Love At First Site
by amehanaa
Summary: Clicking that link, Lucy had fallen in love with someone who lived 2500 miles away.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my new story!**

**I made this up on a whim actually, but I'm very excited to see where my thoughts take me.**

**Please enjoy this story/chapter and I'd greatly appreciate it if you checked out my other story, Secret Lovers. **

**Disclaimer: If a teen like me owned Fairy Tail it'd all go downhill let me tell you that.**

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia was a 17 year old girl that everybody knew. She was friendly, genuine, and a beauty.

She was living a decent life. Lucy was grateful for what she had. Her mother passed away when she was a toddler. To keep away his demons, her father moved away to another country to expand his business. As a 12 year old, Lucy was taken in by a close friend of her mother's; Miss. Spetto.

Miss. Spetto accepted Lucy with a welcoming embrace. Miss. Spetto understood that it was a new environment for Lucy and she needed some space. With that mindset, Lucy's new guardian treated her as a guest at first. Lucy steadily became more comfortable with her new home and learned to acknowledge it.

After being completely settled into her home, Lucy entered high school. Because of her looks and personality she naturally fit in with everyone.

Miss. Spetto, thinking of Lucy as her own daughter, took the initiative and bought Lucy a laptop.

"You're going to need this a lot while you're in high school," she claimed, carefully placing a brand new sleek laptop on her desk.

"Thanks, Miss. Spetto," Lucy replied, eying the laptop. She didn't think she would find much use to it but she didn't tell Miss. Spetto that. She might need it for school, anyway.

On a relaxing Saturday evening, Lucy disinterestedly turned on her laptop for the first time. There was nothing else to do, so why not try it out?

It lit up and quickly commanded her to personalize it. She spent some time dabbling with colors. It was actually a bit cool. Two years later, Lucy was an avid user.

Everybody at Lucy's school knew she was with someone but nobody was certain on who it was. Not one person knew who had the privilege of naming Lucy theirs. She had many friends but she never went out with them. She was invited by others to many events except it was unknown as to why she never attended.

After declining many invitations each day, Lucy would dash to her house and turn on her laptop. The unused laptop was not only on everyday now, it was on for at least eight hours.

Within these hours Lucy would speak to five people that were spread out all over the country. They had all grown so used to each other throughout the first year of knowing each other, it was odd if someone didn't come on without saying it in advance. She loved the group more than she loved herself, however one person from the group had a special place in her heart.

"Sweet dreams," Lucy read from her screen.

"You too," she whispered as she typed on her laptop.

The blonde yawned, turning off her laptop. She looked at the digital clock beside her desk. It was three in the morning on a school night.

"Why do time zones exist?" She mumbled, crawling inside her bed.

Just turning on the laptop that one day made her get tangled inside the web of love.

She didn't know how the man she loved looked like or how he sounded like. She only knew two things; his name was Natsu and he lived 2500 miles away.

* * *

There was a website Lucy daily logged onto as soon as she pressed the power button on her laptop. Finding the website was a mistake. She had accidentally clicked a link that directed her to the website. After seeing what the website was, she was hooked. She would open up her internet browser, key the first letter of the website in the URL bar, and hit the enter key each day.

This website was solely dedicated to amateur artists. There were multiple servers, or rooms, open for the artists. The rooms would also welcome watchers. Lucy was among them.

A username was required to join the room. Lucy took the original route—using her first name as her username. There could only be twenty users in one room. In Lucy's favorite room named FT, she was always online after coming home from school. It was almost as if there was a spot in the room specifically for her.

In each room there was a white board. Whoever had the wish to draw merely dragged their mouse to the white board and drew away, using the various colors and pen sizes in the corner of the screen.

Lucy never spoke in the room. She never had the courage to. Speaking in person came easily to Lucy, but speaking online? It was like speaking a whole different language. There was a chat available for the users in the room below the white board on the web page. She occasionally giggled at the artists' jokes. Although there was one person in the room that stood out the most to her.

He wasn't like the others in the room. If any words were to have the capability of truly explaining him, it would be alien. He was outgoing and always had something humorous to say to one of the other artists. He was unpredictable. Lucy always smiled to herself while reading his responses to others in the group.

She watched him for a month. Each day and night she would watch him pester the others. There was something about him, though. Lucy had never see him draw before. Lucy could point out each artist and watcher out but she never knew what to label this guy.

Lucy occupied herself with her homework one day, watching the amusing and engaging man. She would glance up from time to time to skim the chat and see if he had said anything related to drawing.

Then it happened.

"Don't you think your hiatus has dragged on long enough? Start drawing again, Natsu," an artist in the room had reached out to him.

"Yeah, it's been a while. I'll do a sketch," he replied.

When a mouse was dragged onto the board, everyone had the ability to see the cursor. Each cursor had a username by it to indicate who was who.

Lucy watched as a cursor with the name of Natsu floated around the screen. She leaned in closer to her screen so she wouldn't miss any of it.

"I need to dedicate this to someone," he said onto the chat.

She glanced at the usernames that were in the room. She waited for Natsu to type one of them.

"This one is for Lucy," the words were displayed on the screen.

Lucy blinked several times and stared at her name in the chat. Was he serious?

Natsu didn't say anything more. For the first time, Lucy was watching him draw. She watched his cursor zoom by the white canvas creating lines that curved all across the screen.

It was common when two artists drew at once. All they would do is share the white space. However it was definitely uncommon for someone to draw solo. Nobody drew alongside Natsu nor interrupted his drawing.

Lucy didn't understand why Natsu named his drawing a 'sketch' because it was _not_ a sketch. It was a fierce dragon with scales having various shades of red. The eyes looked sharp and seemed as if they were prepared to fight off the prince and protect the princess at any given moment. The 'sketch' took a sheer fifteen minutes yet it was a masterpiece. All of the artists were especially lousy compared to him. Natsu didn't belong here, he belonged to a prestigious art school only made for the best of the best.

"Hope you enjoyed that, Lucy," he spoke to her in the chat.

Lucy's fingers trembled as they hovered over the keyboard.

"Thanks," she typed.

She watched her small reply disappear and melt with all the others in the chat. Natsu was being tackled with compliments. Lucy read them with a grin on her face. She was glad Natsu was being praised for his work.

Two things happened that day. It was Lucy's first time seeing him draw and it was the first time she spoke in the chat.

Who knew two simple things could lead to things such as love.


	2. Chapter 2

**The towns that are written below are actual towns in Fairy Tail! I'm not that creative to think of the names, pfft.**

**Fun fact: Today is Lucy Heartfilia's actual birthday. Happy birthday, Lucy! ~ (I made up Natsu's birthday don't hate me.)**

**Enjoy this chapter, everyone!**

* * *

Lucy thought Natsu speaking to her was a one time thing. He probably forgot about her the second the night was over, but Lucy was dead wrong.

The usual time for Lucy to log on the website was around four in the afternoon. After watching Natsu for a month, she noted that he came on roughly an hour later. Today was no different. Except for one part.

There was the main chat on the website. Then there was the individual chat. It was all connected but organized into different tabs. Lucy only had one tab open which was for the main chat but as soon as Natsu logged on, one became two.

"Hey there," Natsu sent a message to her.

Lucy stared down at the message perplexed. She planned on replying after five minutes so it didn't look like she was always staring at the website, which was true. Five minutes turned into an hour and an hour turned into two. She just didn't know how to respond back to Natsu. After a long wait, Lucy finally forced her fingers to move.

"Hello," she breathed heavily as she sent the message. Speaking online wasn't easy.

"Took you long enough," he replied seconds later.

Each time Lucy had watched him talk to the others she knew he had a smirk on his face. His smirk was definitely on his face now.

"I had something to do," she bluffed.

"Like what?"

Lucy looked all over her room so she could get an idea. She bit her lip as she typed.

"I had homework."

"Homework is such a pain, isn't it?" He spoke.

"Do you need something?" Lucy's face slowly worked its way to a scowl. Why was he talking to her? He didn't even know her.

"I just want to get to know you," he said, Lucy couldn't tell if he was saying it sheepishly.

"I wonder how many other girls you've said that to," she rolled her eyes.

"Not very many, actually," the message popped up.

"At least you're honest," she gave him points. "Why did you dedicate that dragon to me?"

She expected Natsu to reply a bit slower than usual because she was fully aware he randomly picked her. He was most likely about to explain it.

"Your name interests me," he answered the question quickly.

Lucy felt warmth slowly crawling up her neck. She didn't expect him to be this much of a flirt. Or was he truly interested in her?

"Your name is pretty weird," Lucy pointed out.

"Blame my parents," he said.

Lucy's mouth fell open, "That's your real name?"

"Yep. I was born in the summer," he explained.

"When's your birthday?" She felt herself getting more excited by each message he sent.

"First day of July," he declared.

"We have the same birthday," Lucy typed slowly in disbelief.

"Imagine if we were born in the same hospital," he joked.

"Where do you live?" Lucy asked. She knew people in the room didn't live in the same town as her. Maybe not even in the same country. She wasn't surprised if it branched out as far as continent.

"Magnolia, Fiore," he answered.

"Definitely not the same hospital," Lucy said.

"Where do you live?" He inquired.

"Acalypha, Fiore," she replied. She had never told anyone online where she lived. It was an odd feeling.

"Maybe we were born at the same time?" He suggested. "I was born at eight in the morning."

"I'm two hours older than you," Lucy started to grin.

"That is if we're the same age," he reminded the both of them.

"I'm 17," she stated. Two facts about herself were now known to a complete stranger; it made her feel courageous but at the same time shy.

"I can't believe you're two hours older than me," he replied in incredulity.

Lucy shrugged but remembered Natsu couldn't see her. She went back to typing.

"You snooze you lose," she said playfully.

Natsu didn't respond back as fast as usual. Lucy felt mildly disappointment, speaking to Natsu was too good to be true. He was probably on the main chat speaking to everyone else or talking to other people. Lucy lazily switched tabs to the main chat and she was surprised at all people sending messages.

"Where is Natsu?"

"Did he go somewhere? He didn't say anything."

"I want Natsu to draw again."

Lucy read all the messages that kept disappearing due to so many people questioning where Natsu was. Five minutes later the tab with Natsu bounced with an icon that had a number one on it. He was speaking to her but not speaking in the main chat. Lucy wondered why but didn't bother to ask. She hesitantly clicked the tab with Natsu's name.

"I have some friends who really want to meet you, would you like to meet them?" He asked.

Lucy's mind was unsure but her fingers weren't. Before she realized what she was doing the message, "Sure," was sent.

"Great!" He cheered. "Here's the link," he sent a link with a URL name that Lucy was unfamiliar with.

She clicked on it and was directed to a page on a new tab that was bright blue. There were faint beeps coming from the page but she couldn't tell why because of a white box placed in the center of the screen.

The box asked for her name and below were different pixelated icons that would be used as her avatar. Lucy typed in her name and decided to choose an icon with a twinkling gold key. It was the best out of the twenty listed. She clicked entered and the page took a while to load. Lucy's skepticism grew with each second.

At last it loaded. The bright blue remained but instead of a white box asking for a name and avatar, it was a white box with a chat and names on the right side of it. Lucy read the names; Gray, Erza, Levy, Gajeel, and Natsu.

"Hi, Lucy!" A beep came from the message. The message had come from Levy. Her avatar was a pair of red glasses.

Lucy didn't respond. She merely stared down at the message. She still wasn't used to this whole speaking online thing.

"She's shy," Natsu's name popped up. His avatar was a fire ball.

Just like the drawing website, a new tab on the chat opened. It was Natsu.

"Just say hi. They won't be mean, I promise," he assured.

"Hi," Lucy spoke on the main chat hoping nobody read it in the voice of a robot like she was.

"I'm Levy," Levy introduced.

"I'm Erza," a new name showed up. Their avatar was a sword.

"I'm Gray," another name surfaced. Gray's avatar was an ice cube.

"Gajeel, introduce yourself," Levy ordered.

"Yo," someone with the username of Gajeel spoke. Gajeel's avatar was an iron nail.

"I'm Lucy," she said. Seeing her avatar with the rest made her feel a little happy.

"Natsu speaks about you a lot," Levy announced. Lucy tilted her head in confusion.

"It gets annoying," Gray added.

"It's nice to meet you," Erza said. Lucy could already tell Erza was the most mature one out of the group.

"Shut up, guys," Natsu demanded the group. Lucy giggled softly but simultaneously felt embarrassed.

"Did we scare her away?" Levy asked.

"Probably," Gajeel answered.

"I'm not used to speaking online," Lucy confessed.

"Whoa, you weren't lying, Natsu," Gray told him.

"It's okay, Lucy," Erza confirmed.

"We'll get you used to it!" Levy proclaimed.

"Good luck," Lucy wished to not only them but to herself. Hopefully she would get over this awkwardness.

"What time is it where you live?" Gray questioned.

Lucy glanced at her clock, "It's almost eight."

"We're in the same time zone!" Levy shouted. Well, a virtual shout.

"I'm an hour behind you," Erza said.

"An hour ahead," Gray and Gajeel said together.

"Two hours behind," Natsu revealed, making him look like the black sheep.

"Do you all live in Fiore?" Lucy asked the group.

Five messages with the word yes were sent at the same time. Nobody here knew each other in real life. That made Lucy feel slightly more confident.

"Guys, can you believe Lucy is two hours older than me?" Natsu asked still in shock.

"Even after adding another person to our group, you're _still_ the youngest," it could easily be noticed that Gray was laughing at this.

"Still stupid, too," Gajeel chimed in.

"You'll get there one day, Natsu," Erza said mockingly.

Lucy was actually laughing. She had never laughed this much at reading something online. It was refreshing watching Natsu get teased. Natsu was the one who messed with others. He didn't seem to take any offense to any of the retorts.

"You guys are really funny!" Lucy typed while still laughing.

"Thanks," Natsu replied.

Lucy felt her heart flutter a little. She looked down at her beating heart. What was that?

She talked to the group for the next two hours. Slowly, but surely, she became more comfortable with speaking to them. She wasn't entirely relaxed just yet but Lucy could tell it was going to be soon. Lucy yawned, she decided to take her leave.

"I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight, everyone," Lucy retreated.

"Goodnight!" The group said in unison.

Just before Lucy was going to exit out a message came from the individual chat with Natsu.

"Come on tomorrow," he said.

A small smile danced on Lucy's lips. She didn't hesitate to answer, "Okay."

She logged off and leaped into her bed. She rolled around on her back enthusiastically and shoved her face into her pillow.

"Natsu talked to me," Lucy's voice was muffled as she talked to herself.

Lucy absolutely could not wait for tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm late, ah. I just had so many things to do! It was quite stressful. **

**Anybody excited that Sword Art Online is back? I've cried for about three days now.**

**I hope the slight humor I wrote doesn't bother anyone. **

**Please review and enjoy!~**

* * *

Lucy didn't know who was going to be on when she timidly typed the website that directed her to her new friends. She had been worried about this ever since school ended for the day.

To ease her anxiety, Lucy went to the drawing website first. The usual people were on drawing among themselves. She watched them for a bit, longer than she meant to, and opened a new tab.

"I can do it," she encouraged herself.

She slammed the enter key after typing the website, her hands shooting up to mask her face. She spread them so she could see through. This time there was no box asking for her name. It went straight to the chat. The only ones that were logged on were Erza and Levy.

"Hey, Lucy!" Levy greeted. "How was school?"

"It was good," Lucy typed, feeling stranger than ever. "How about you?"

"Same thing as always. It's a shame I have to endure one more year of this," Lucy could hear Levy's sigh.

"Hopefully it goes by fast," she agreed. "Wait, Erza? Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I'm home-schooled," Erza replied.

"She's a home-schooled genius!" Levy added.

"I wouldn't say that," Erza said humbly.

"Why are you home-schooled?" Lucy questioned.

"I didn't like public school, really," Erza admitted. "I asked my parents if I could become home-schooled and they let me."

"I wish I could be like you, Erza," Levy whimpered.

Lucy heard a beep that was different from the ones she heard after a message was sent. She saw another name get added to the list online. Gray.

"Sup, guys," Gray said.

"Hey!" The girls replied.

"I hope Erza wasn't too mean to Lucy," Gray spoke.

"Erza isn't mean," Lucy responded with a puzzled face.

"Oh, just you wait," Gray warned. "She gets cranky as soon as Gajeel and Natsu come on."

"Sorry, Erza, but it's true," Levy unhappily sided with Gray.

"I can't control my thoughts," Erza replied unbothered.

Lucy couldn't believe it unless she saw it before her own eyes. As soon as Gajeel and Natsu logged on, Lucy waited for Erza's fury. As if Gray could read Lucy's mind, Gray sent a message.

"Wait for it, Lucy," he said.

Like that was Erza's cue, Lucy watched Erza's mature and sweet messages morph into a monster's.

"If you guys don't stop being annoying I will personally go to your homes and make sure you can't blink an eye," Erza threatened after Natsu claimed to be the most talented in his class.

"There it is," Gray presented.

"As long as you don't hurt my hands," Natsu replied.

"Bring Levy with you," Gajeel demanded.

"Why Levy?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know," Levy recalled. "Gajeel and I are a couple."

Lucy's jaw collapsed. She had seen online relationships before but never spoke with a person who was in one. This was her chance.

"How do you guys do it?" Lucy inquired.

"By sending messages, obviously," Gajeel quipped.

The blonde's face flushed in humiliation.

"How do you deal with the distance?" She went to her next question.

"It sucks, but you get used to it," Levy answered.

"What she said," Gajeel agreed.

"I could never be in an online relationship," Lucy stated.

"Me neither," Erza responded.

"It must suck," Gray agreed with the two.

"I think it'd be interesting," Natsu spoke.

"Of course you would," Gray scoffed.

"I'll be back later, guys. Time for dinner!" Levy's green dot showing that she was online turned blue. Lucy hovered her cursor to it and the words 'busy' came up.

"Me too," Erza, Gray, and Gajeel's dots became blue as well.

"I ate lunch two hours ago," Natsu said.

Lucy inhaled the air. There was a faint smell of food but she decided to ignore it. She had an urge to talk to Natsu.

"Dinner isn't ready for me yet," she typed.

A beep came from Lucy's laptop speakers but it wasn't from the main chat. It was from the individual chat with Natsu. The messages from yesterday hadn't gone away. The last message Natsu sent made her smile.

"I hate talking to one person on the main chat," Natsu explained.

"Weirdo," Lucy's smile was still on her face.

"Is what you said earlier the truth?" He asked.

"What?" Lucy thought he was referring to her lying about dinner. Was she that bad at lying?

"About the online relationship," he said. Lucy's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm not sure," Lucy answered truthfully. "I say that now but if I ever liked someone over the internet I'd probably want to be with them."

"Good to know," Natsu replied. Before Lucy was able to ask about his view on online relationships, a soft knock sounded behind her door.

"Dinner is ready, bye," Lucy hastily typed and switched tabs to the drawing website. Her door opened and Miss. Spetto walked in.

"Still on that website?" Miss. Spetto shook her head with a grin.

"Yup!" Lucy nodded.

"Well, come take a break. I made dinner," she beckoned Lucy to come out.

"Okay! I'll be there in a minute," Lucy called out to her guardian.

Lucy sighed in relief that Miss. Spetto didn't see her on the new website. Miss. Spetto was a bit uncertain with Lucy being on a website with total strangers. After Lucy informed that she didn't speak on the website, it made her guardian feel better.

After that, Lucy was completely sure that Miss. Spetto would steal away her laptop if she said she was speaking to strangers. Miss. Spetto would definitely not approve. It would be best if she didn't know for now.

"Your dinner was amazing as always," Lucy praised her, drying off her clean dishes.

"Thank you," Miss. Spetto thanked bashfully. "I have to go out now and I don't know when I'll be back. Don't stay up too late, alright?"

"Don't worry," Lucy eased her worries. "Stay safe."

Lucy waved Miss. Spetto goodbye and trekked back to her room. She slid into her chair and made herself comfortable. She shook her mouse from side to side to wake up her laptop and returned back to the chat. Lucy's blue dot was now green.

"Lucy eats so slow," Natsu whined, not bringing up her sudden leave earlier.

"I was enjoying my dinner," Lucy defended herself.

"Natsu eats like a pig," Gray spoke.

"How do you know?" Levy asked.

"We were playing video games online once while he was eating. Half of the time I couldn't even tell what he was saying, all I heard was slobbering noises," Gray's groan was visible in between his words.

"So you've heard each other's voices?" Lucy questioned.

"Unfortunately," Gray replied.

"How does he sound like?" Erza asked before Lucy could. Lucy waited for Gray's reply eagerly.

"Manly," Natsu answered for himself.

"I want to hear Lucy's voice!" Levy spoke.

"How can you?" Lucy asked, although she didn't think she was brave enough to show her voice.

"There's this website you can record your voice in, hold on," Levy said, taking a short amount of time to post a link. "We should all show our voices," she suggested.

"There are people over at my house. I can't," Erza declined.

"Tomorrow then, Erza," Levy said. "So who's first?"

"I'll do it," Gajeel uncharacteristically volunteered. "What do I say?"

"Say that you're stupid," Gray commanded.

"Or that you love to play jazz music," Natsu ordered.

"Just say your name and one thing that you like," Lucy proposed.

"Sure," Gajeel said, not answering to anyone.

There was a brief wait and soon enough Gajeel posted a link, so Lucy clicked on it. She was taken to a page that had one gray bar in the middle of screen with a play button. Lucy hesitantly clicked on it.

"My name is Gajeel," Lucy listened to the audio, "and I love Levy."

"Deep voice," Erza commented.

"How does that make you feel, Levy?" Gray asked.

"Be quiet," she responded.

"I've never heard such a raspy voice in my life," Lucy typed in shock.

"I've been saying your name wrong!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Gray, you're next," Levy commanded.

Lucy listened to Gray's voice and after that Levy's. They said their names and one thing they liked. Gray sounded like an ordinary teen and Levy sounded like a petite girl. Hearing their voices, Lucy could imagine how they looked now. She also could read their messages in their voices.

"Lucy's turn," Gray spoke.

"Okay," Lucy started to get nervous.

Lucy was grateful she was home alone. Miss. Spetto would surely enter her room asking who she was speaking to. Getting to the webpage that said she could record, Lucy cleared her throat. She decided to not over think on how she should speak and just say her name and what she liked. Simple and easy. Lucy clicked record.

"My name is Lucy," she spoke to her laptop, "and I like yogurt."

Lucy listened to her recording with a frown. She contemplated if she should record it again but dismissed the idea after she noticed how long she was taking.

"Here," Lucy posted the link.

There was the usual momentary wait; Lucy felt her palms get damp from sweat. Why was this wait a bit longer than the others?

"You sound like a girl," Gajeel said.

"She is a girl," Gray countered.

"Nice voice," Erza complimented.

"Your voice is so cute!" Levy gushed.

"Thanks," Lucy smiled.

"What kind of yogurt?" Natsu asked.

"Cookies and cream," Lucy responded, content that he said something.

"They have cookies and cream yogurt?" Gray inquired with bewilderment.

"Yes," everyone in the chat replied.

After picking on Gray, Lucy felt excitement knowing that she would hear Natsu's voice next.

"My microphone isn't working," Natsu said.

"Tomorrow you will show your voice with Erza or else," Levy threatened.

"You got it," Natsu answered.

Lucy didn't let this sadden her, she would be able to hear it tomorrow. She spent the rest of the night talking to everyone. She only knew these people for two days now but they all got along like they knew each other since birth. Lucy hardly even went to the artist website, she was solely focused on the chat with her friends. Before Lucy even realized, she was saying goodbye to Erza. The only one left was Natsu.

"It's pretty late where you are," Natsu switched to the individual chat.

"I'm not tired," she insisted, although she yawned a few minutes ago. It was half an hour away from midnight.

"We have school tomorrow," Natsu pointed out.

"It'll be fine," Lucy ensured. "Natsu, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"How long have you been drawing?" She questioned.

"Maybe three years," Natsu responded. "Why?"

"You're an amazing artist," she commended.

"It comes naturally," he said, a smirk hiding in his words. "I'm serious. I drew a drawing on that website one day and everybody said I was great."

"They're right," Lucy hated to admit.

"I'm happy you like my drawings," Natsu spoke.

Lucy's eyes widened and her cheeks became warm. An idea came in her head.

"Draw me something again," Lucy typed.

"What do I get in return?" He asked.

"I'll say something you want me to say and I'll record it," she offered.

"Deal. What do you want me to draw?" Natsu inquired.

"Draw a beach," Lucy sent the first thing that came to mind.

"How about a lake?" He negotiated.

"Works for me," she replied.

"Go to the website," Natsu said.

Lucy clicked on the tab with the drawing website and looked at the familiar chat under the drawing board.

"I'm going to draw again," Natsu told everyone. The artists cheered and encouraged him seconds later.

"Any dedications this time?" An artist asked.

"This one is for Lucy," Natsu dedicated to her again. Lucy couldn't stop the grin from forming on her face.

"Again?" Several artists complained.

"Yep," Natsu said plainly and began his drawing.

Lucy watched Natsu with the same excited feeling like the first time she saw him draw. Nobody drew alongside Natsu once again. He started off with drawing the lake. Lucy couldn't tell if Natsu was showing off, but she didn't mind. He made the cerulean waves of the lake look like they were actually moving across the screen. Grassy mountains stretched across the board, the sky being a warm orange, showing it was sunset. On the side of the board he drew a dock with a parked boat. On the dock stood six small people; Lucy understood it was everyone from the chat. Like the dragon, this was also a masterpiece.

"Hope you enjoyed that, Lucy," Natsu repeated after he finished the drawing.

"Thanks," Lucy said, no hovering over the keyboard in anxiety included.

And again, her message vanished from the history in seconds. It was like he was getting more compliments this time. Lucy read all them as quickly as her eyes could follow. A beep came from the other website.

"Look at what you did!" Natsu accused her.

Lucy giggled while typing, "Sorry! You know you enjoy the compliments."

"Only by one person," he responded and returned to politely thanking everyone for liking his art.

Lucy stared at the words he sent. He couldn't possibly be referring to her? Probably not.

The chaos of Natsu drawing soon died down and he was able to finally get what he wanted.

"What should I make you say?" Natsu asked mischievously.

"Don't think about it too much," Lucy pleaded. If he did, Natsu would make her say something ridiculous.

"Okay, I got it! I want you to say, 'Natsu is my favorite person and I love him,'" he ordered.

"I'm not going to say the last part," Lucy refused.

"I'm not going to draw for you again," Natsu replied.

"Fine," she groaned. "Hold on."

Lucy opened up the recording website again and took a few deep breaths. It shouldn't be too bad, right? Lucy pressed the record icon.

"Natsu is my favorite person," Lucy tried not to stutter on her words, "and I love him."

She listened to her recording and was surprised. Why did she sound like she actually meant it?

"Is Lucy backing out?" Natsu teased after a few minutes.

"Absolutely not," she retorted while posting the link to her recording. There was a short wait and Natsu soon replied back.

"I didn't know you felt that way," he mocked.

"Whatever," Lucy typed with embarrassment.

"I won't tell anyone this happened," he spoke.

"Let's just keep this a secret," she added.

"Will do," he answered. "I think you should go now, you'll be tired tomorrow."

"Alright," Lucy replied with a yawn. "Goodnight."

"Don't forget to come on tomorrow. Goodnight," Natsu said.

And with that, Lucy logged off and shut down her laptop. It amazed her how it was midnight where she was but only ten at night where he was.

She brushed her teeth and fell in her bed. She was too tired to fall asleep. Lucy went back over what happened with Natsu and how stunning his drawing was. He drew two things for her. Most people wouldn't even get one drawing by him. Lucy felt slightly special.

"What is this feeling?" She asked the dark.

Lucy's chest felt light but filled with butterflies. She had never felt this feeling before but she wasn't going to object to it. It was nice.


	4. Chapter 4

**I love modern AU's so much, you don't understand. **(●´艸｀)ヾ

**I had _lots_ of fun writing this because Nalu makes me want to explode. **

**Thank you everyone for reviewing, faving, and following. I didn't expect this many people to enjoy this story! And just everyone's compliments make me want to hug you all. ;u; Thank you so much for reading this story.**

* * *

"Happy Friday!" Levy cheered as Lucy logged on after school.

"Happy Friday," she replied.

Lucy had completed her first week of being with her new online friends. She got along with everyone, except Gajeel, and enjoyed speaking to everyone. She was no longer cautious around them; she was herself. Lucy felt herself start to favor speaking online more than speaking in person, although she did someday want to meet everyone in the group.

She had heard everyone's voice, excluding Natsu. His microphone had yet to start working and Lucy felt dissatisfied. She had never told him that she wanted to hear his voice, but despite that she wondered. Why was it that she couldn't hear the voice she wanted to hear most?

"Ah, it feels great to not have to do homework," Gray wallowed in content.

"I do my homework on Friday," Lucy said.

"Me too," Levy agreed.

"I do mine on Saturday," Erza spoke.

"Do you get homework?" Gray asked.

"Not really," she replied.

"You're bragging, aren't you?" he asked another question.

"Yes," Erza responded.

"Well, I do mine on Sunday," Gray said, Natsu and Gajeel siding with him.

"Boys," Levy ridiculed.

"My middle name is Procrastination," Natsu joked.

"And who wants to do homework when we just got out of school for two days?" Gray added.

"It's a waste of time," Gajeel included.

After some arguing, boys against girls, Erza took a stand.

"We all agree to disagree, _right_?"

"Yes!" The rest of the group yelped.

Time flew before Lucy's eyes. She wasn't tired yet but it was late. Lucy started to feel joy; this was what it was like to stay up late and talk to people online.

A beep rang from the website and Lucy noticed a new tab on the bottom of the chat. She clicked on it.

"Erza and Lucy. Let's talk about boys," Levy said bluntly.

"Sure," Erza replied.

"Okay," Lucy typed hesitantly.

"What's your favorite thing about a guy?" Levy questioned.

"His humor," Lucy answered.

"His intelligence," Erza responded.

"What if you met your dream man but he wasn't intelligent?" Levy challenged.

"I have already met my dream man," Erza simply beat the question.

"You have?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," Erza replied shortly, shyness starting to creep up.

"How did you meet him?" Levy inquired.

"He is my neighbor," she informed.

"Wow," Lucy and Levy said together.

"What's his name?" Levy interrogated.

"Jellal."

"How often do you see him?" Lucy asked.

"I see him when I get the mail," Erza answered.

"How romantic!" Levy proclaimed.

"He doesn't know I like him," she confessed.

"You should tell him," Levy advised. "If I met my dream man in real life, I'd hug him as much as I could."

"Do you and Gajeel plan to meet?" Lucy typed excitedly.

"I want to meet him after I graduate," she responded.

"Why not before?" Erza asked.

"I don't think my parents would let me go if I was still in school," Levy revealed.

"So you have to wait one more year to meet him," Lucy realized while sending the message.

"A year and a half," Levy corrected. "I graduate in June and right now it's December."

"Sounds like a pain," Lucy felt bad for her friend.

"It does," Erza agreed.

"So, Lucy," Levy begun. "Do you like anyone?"

"No," Lucy typed, but didn't send the message just yet. A beep had distracted her, she looked at the new blinking tab. It was the chat with Natsu and her.

"Why aren't you talking?" he inquired.

"I'm talking to Levy and Erza," Lucy replied. "Why?"

"I was worried," Natsu sent.

Lucy's face became a fierce red. She smacked her cheeks lightly to regain her composure. Swiftly switching to the chat with Levy and Erza, she deleted her word.

"I might," she sent her message to the girls.

"You like Natsu, don't you?" Erza predicted.

"How did you know?" Lucy asked shocked.

"Natsu has talked about you for a couple of weeks," Levy said.

Lucy's eyes widened at the message. She always assumed he noticed her when he drew for her. She thought he didn't even know she existed before that.

"I don't know," Lucy had difficulty typing the words out. "When I talk to him I feel so happy and I get this feeling in my chest. Ever since he drew on that website a month ago I couldn't stop watching him. What if I'm thinking I like him when it's actually just admiration?" Lucy felt out of breath; her heart beating so loud she could hear it in her ears.

"Who are you talking about?" a message displayed itself on the chat.

Lucy's hand froze on top of her mouse. Was she actually seeing the correct name? How could she make such a mistake?

"Natsu," Lucy typed slowly. She quickly typed the last part, backing out of what she just said. "I wasn't talking about anybody."

"Are you talking about the website we met on?" Natsu asked.

"I have to go to bed," Lucy retreated.

"Wait, Lucy," Natsu said.

"Goodnight, everyone," Lucy told the group and logged off.

She slammed her laptop shut and sat in her room being illuminated by a lamp. Miss. Spetto had gone to sleep hours ago so Lucy couldn't leave her room.

It was the middle of the night, the only reasonable thing to do was sleep. The idea didn't work out for Lucy as she spent two hours forcing her eyelids to stay shut.

"I messed up, didn't I?" she spoke to herself. "How could he like a girl he has known for only a week?"

After looking around her dark room, she heaved herself up. She wasn't going to fall asleep any time soon, so she went to the place that would surely make her feel better. Her comforting drawing website.

She didn't think Natsu was on; it was too late. As Lucy pressed the first letter in the URL bar and hit enter, a relief feeling surfaced in her. He wasn't on.

Lucy watched the artist draw and talk to each other. This was how it always used to be, but she was bored. As she was about to give into sleep, a new user was listed on the artists online. Natsu.

She gulped while staring at the name. Usually, Natsu would instantly talk. He was silent but his username screamed to Lucy. At last Lucy received a message from the individual chat.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" he asked her.

"I can say the same thing to you," she replied.

"It's only one in the morning here," the next message said.

"Oh, that's right," Lucy remembered. "I forget about time zones."

Lucy had the urge to bite her nails. She felt so anxious that she kept typing the wrong letters.

"About earlier.." Natsu spoke.

"Please forget it," she begged.

"I don't want you to feel awkward when you talk to me," he declared.

"I don't want _you_ to feel awkward when you talk to me," Lucy retorted.

"Then I'll pretend to forget," he responded.

"Why won't you really forget it?" she questioned.

"I don't want to," he answered.

Lucy didn't think she could blush at three in the morning but here she was. Natsu noticed the pause in the messages.

"Want to stay up all night with me?"

"Until when?" she asked.

"Until sunrise," he said.

"Our sunrise is at different times," Lucy reminded him.

"Then stay up with me until your sunrise," he planned out.

"I hope I don't fall asleep on you," she told him.

"I hope you don't either," he replied.

"What's it like in Magnolia?" Lucy decided to start the topic of the conversation first.

"Loud," he said.

"Do you live in the city?" she asked, thinking about all the soaring skyscrapers crowded around each other.

"Yeah. Nobody sleeps here," he said. "What's it like in Acalypha?"

"Quiet," she typed, realizing that it was incredibly quiet. There was no breaking news about Acalypha on TV. The TV only reported news from other towns nearby.

"How many cows do you see walking on the streets?" he inquired with complete seriousness.

Lucy laughed, "I don't live in the country. I live in the suburbs."

The two spoke to each other about where they lived. Lucy found out that he lived in an apartment in the city and attended a private school. She felt more eager with each fact Natsu told her; they lived in the same country but were in two opposite environments. It was unbelievable.

And of course, Lucy told facts about herself. She was glad that Natsu was the first person to know about her online. She was happy it was him.

"The sun is coming up," Lucy said as her room slowly became flooded with a dim light.

"Does your computer have a camera?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Take a picture of it," he said.

"How will I show you the picture?"

"You see the camera icon beside the send box? If you click it, you can pick a picture from your files and send it through here," he explained.

"Give me a minute," Lucy typed and raised herself from her chair.

Her window had the perfect view of the sunrise but Lucy couldn't figure out how to take the picture. The camera was at the _front_ of the screen. There was only one way.

She picked up her laptop and held it in her arms. The webcam was already opened so all Lucy had to do was stretch her arm and press the enter key to take the picture. She stood by her window and held the laptop on her left arm. The sun was just about to peek out from the horizon. As soon as the sun rised, Lucy leaned in and pushed the enter key. Although the stance she was in was ridiculous, she was content that she got the picture for him.

Lucy did what Natsu sent earlier—clicking the camera icon and finding the picture. She sent it and a small version of the picture showed itself on the chat. She clicked on it and it grew to the actual size of the picture. Looking at the picture, she was actually proud. It was a good shot, but something at the edge of the picture caught her eye.

"You have blonde hair?" was the first thing Natsu asked.

"I can't believe my hair showed," Lucy said in disbelief. Not only was part of her hair visible, but her chin was, too. There was a hint of her smile also being shown.

"It's nice," he complimented. "You'd be surprised at what color my hair is."

"What color?" she questioned.

"Not saying," he replied slyly.

"No fair!" she exclaimed.

Some arguing later, Lucy's body gradually began to shut down.

"It was fun staying up with you," she admitted.

"It was," he said.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Lucy typed.

"Don't you mean later today?"

"Oh, right. I'll talk to you later today," she fixed her mistake.

"Goodnight," Natsu responded.

"Don't you mean good morning?" Lucy typed with a grin.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," she replied. Her cursor was exactly above the log off button. She clicked it but was able to catch Natsu's last message.

"Talking to you makes me happy, too."


	5. Chapter 5

**Really wish it was Christmas again. This 100 degree weather isn't funny anymore. **

**I don't have much to say other than to enjoy this chapter and look forward to the next one because it's going to be good!~**

* * *

"It's one in the afternoon and you're just now eating breakfast?" Miss. Spetto frowned at Lucy.

"Sorry, I fell asleep late," Lucy replied, taking another bite of her pancake.

"It's because you were on your laptop, right? I might take it away from you," her guardian slightly threatened.

"Right before Christmas break? That's cruel, Miss. Spetto," the blonde sighed.

"You're right," she agreed. "I'll let you do this just this time!"

Lucy nodded with puffy cheeks as thanks, she had stuffed too much food in her mouth.

It was the weekend and also the week before winter break. Which meant two holidays in the time span of two weeks without school meddling in the hectic weeks. Well, not so hectic for Lucy. Miss. Spetto always ended up working on Christmas and New Year's, but Lucy had become used to being alone with a cake on both holidays. Although this year Lucy felt different; she had five new friends to spend it with.

"What is everyone doing for Christmas?" Lucy asked the group when they all logged on later that day.

"I have to go to a stupid family reunion this year," Levy responded sadly.

"I'm going out with family," Erza answered.

"I'm going out with friends," Gray said.

"I got stuff to do," Gajeel stated with his usual vague tone.

"What about you, Natsu?" Lucy typed.

"I'm staying home," he replied.

"You're boring," Gray commented.

"I'm staying home, too," Lucy revealed.

"What? It's Christmas!" Levy exclaimed.

"My mom works," Lucy explained.

"On Christmas? That's not right," Erza spoke.

"It's not too bad," Lucy responded with a shrug.

"And you, Natsu? What's your reason?" Levy asked.

"I just decided to not go out this year," he answered plainly.

Although the group was curious, they decided not to ask for more. Lucy understood that nobody on this chat was nosy so she shouldn't be either.

"Since we're all busy on Christmas, we should have our own little party on Christmas Eve!" Levy proposed.

"Am I the only one who has to go to school on Christmas Eve?" Lucy inquired.

"I have school, too," everyone in the group, except for Erza, answered unhappily.

"I'm not going," Gajeel said.

"Oh, yes you are," Levy scolded.

"I wish they would let us get off a day early," Gray spoke.

"I have a half day," Natsu informed.

"I have to go to all seven of my classes," Lucy complained.

"You have seven classes? I have eight!" Levy proclaimed.

"I have none," Erza said, never missing a chance to brag how stress free home-schooling was. Although Lucy felt relieved when Erza did joke around, it made her look like she was an actual teenager.

"At least we don't have to bring food to the party," Gray joked.

"I'm bringing food," Natsu opposed.

"What are we going to do?" Erza asked.

"Let's play games! I know a website where we can all play games together," Levy planned.

"What does the winner get?" Gajeel asked for everyone; their interest in this party had increased after thinking of getting competitive.

"Winner gets to order each person in the group to do something," Natsu announced.

"Sounds good," Gray said, everyone else agreeing.

"I will win," Erza declared.

"Thanks for the laugh, Erza, but I will win," Gray argued.

"Why don't we all realize that I'm going to win?" Natsu chimed in.

"I already won," Gajeel said.

"Good luck, Lucy," Levy spoke.

"You too," Lucy typed nervously, watching the other four competitors threaten each other. "We're going to need it."

The weekend came to a close and Lucy had to endure one more week of school. While walking home, Lucy had never been fazed by the Christmas decorations and fake snowmen. Yet this year, she became eager for the holiday to come. Ever since Levy brought up the party, the group never stopped talking about. When each day of the week ended Lucy felt joy—one day closer to the party.

As each day went by, Erza, Levy, and Lucy had started a daily talk. As soon as everybody finished eating dinner, their girl talk commenced.

"Hey, Erza, what would you do if Jellal asked you to spend Christmas with him?" Levy asked, slightly teasing her. Ever since Erza brought up her crush to the girls, Levy used it to her advantage.

"We are spending Christmas together," she replied.

"You are?!" the other two girls sent their messages together.

"Him being at his house next door is the same thing, right?" Erza questioned.

"No, Erza," Lucy answered, shaking her head.

"You just gave me a heart attack," Levy said.

"Someday I will spend Christmas with him," Erza stated optimistically.

"That's the spirit!" Levy encouraged. "Someday I will spend Christmas with Gajeel!"

"And someday Lucy will spend Christmas with Natsu," Erza spoke for Lucy.

"No way," Lucy typed flustered.

"You two will be staying home for Christmas, right?" Levy asked.

"Yes, but maybe he wants to truly be alone?" Lucy made up an excuse.

"I think you should ask him," Erza advised.

"I'll think about it," Lucy responded.

"I just want it to be Christmas Eve already," Levy whined.

"I'm scared to see Erza play," Lucy confessed.

"Don't get in my way," Erza replied bluntly.

Lucy's eyes widened, "Competitive people are scary."

"How is this ordering stuff going to work, anyway?" Levy asked.

"Who knows. I just want to win," Erza said.

"If Gray wins, he'll order us to compliment him each second," Lucy imagined with a shudder.

"If Natsu wins, he'll force us to say something embarrassing about ourselves," Erza included.

"If Gajeel wins..." Levy didn't finish her sentence.

"Let's not think about that," Lucy told her.

"If I win, I'm going to make you all order a strawberry cake and send it to my house," Erza said; Lucy pictured her typing with an evil sneer.

"Cold-blooded Erza strikes again," Levy spoke.

"What are you going to do if you win, Lucy?" Erza inquired.

"I'm going to," Lucy glanced around her room for an answer. "I'll figure it out if I win."

"Me too," Levy agreed. "Save the worrying for later."

The girls talked to each other for the next few hours, gradually becoming closer and more comfortable with each other. Lucy didn't have to think when she typed, she replied to them as if they had known each other since their first year of school.

"Two more days until the party!" Levy reminded everyone. "Goodnight."

"Two more days until two weeks of no worries," Gray said, logging off next.

"Two more days until I get to beat everyone," Erza spoke, logging off right after.

"Yeah, two days," Gajeel sent plainly then logged off with the rest.

Natsu and Lucy being the last ones online wasn't uncommon anymore. It had become a regular thing for them; Lucy couldn't deny that she looked forward to it each night.

"Everybody is excited for Christmas Eve," Lucy stated.

"I'm ready to win," Natsu beamed, in a competitive trance like everyone else.

Lucy smiled at the message. She wasn't going to admit it, but she was hoping he was going to be the winner. If he won, whatever he made everyone else do would absolutely make her laugh.

"So it looks like we're going to be alone on Christmas," Natsu spoke.

Lucy stared at the message, Erza and Levy's messages taunting her. She took a breath and began to type her reply.

"Why don't we spend Christmas together?" she suggested, her face turning red with each finger movement. She speedily added, "It's okay if you don't want to have company."

"I want company," Natsu's message surfaced onto Lucy's screen. "Let's spend Christmas together."

Lucy grinned, "Okay."

And with that, Lucy was able to add another event to her list of things to look forward to.

The next two days dragged on for eternity, but soon enough Lucy logged onto the chat with an electrifying thrill. It was finally the evening of Christmas Eve and she didn't have to think about school for the next two weeks.

"Merry Christmas Eve!" Levy declared when Lucy logged on.

"You're late," Natsu said.

Lucy's eyes flicked to the people online; everyone was already on.

"Sorry! I don't know where the time went," she apologized. It was true, she thought she had spoken with Miss. Spetto for only a few minutes.

"Well, since everyone is here, we can now start," Levy reported.

"I'm ready," Erza replied.

"Ready to lose?" Gray asked.

"Nobody will beat me," Natsu followed.

"I already have the orders I'm going to say," Gajeel said.

"Good luck, Levy," Lucy typed, terrified by the other four. She didn't think there was a chance for her to win but that wasn't going to stop her from trying her best.

A few moments later, a link was posted by Levy. Lucy clicked on it immediately.

"Let the games begin!"


	6. Chapter 6

**If you have friends online and they don't ask, "My time or your time?" they are not your true friends.**

**I don't think I wrote this chapter as well as I could have, but maybe it's because I've never had to write scenes where I had to describe _everything_. It was a challenge but I finished it finally! And I tried to make Natsu sound like himself this chapter rather than the OOC I usually do.**

**One more thing, I published a short one-shot yesterday and I'd love if some of you read it! It'd mean a lot to me, honestly.**

**Oops, and one more thing! I'd just like to thank you all soso much for reading this story. I can't thank you all enough without sounding sappy and nobody wants to me get sappy because it's embarrassing. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and forgive me for my rambling. ~**

* * *

Lucy waited as patiently as she could manage while the website loaded. She fidgeted in her chair and shook her mouse to pass the time. After a few more movements, it finished loading and a page with a box asking for her name popped up. She typed her name and was led to a hover cart racing game.

The game was decorated with animated racing tracks with the title covering some parts of it with blazing blue letters. There was only one icon to click which was play. The page became white and went back to the game with a tutorial. After Lucy understood how to play she finally came to the last page with names and a chat.

"I've been playing racing games all my life," Gray said.

"You should have picked a harder game, Levy," Erza commented.

"Start the game already," Gajeel urged.

"Is everyone ready?" Levy asked.

"Yes," everyone replied.

Lucy watched as the timer counted down from ten. When the timer hit zero Lucy placed her fingers on her keyboard to get herself ready. The game showed her how the track looked like and who was in what place. She was in fourth place as her starting point. Once the words, "Get ready!" surfaced onto the screen, Lucy straightened her back and relaxed her fingers on her keyboard.

There was a gunshot and Lucy watched her avatar on the small cart begin to move forward. The fast paced music coming from the game only made her get more engrossed into the race and to her surprise she was already in second place on the second lap. The person in front of her was oddly enough Levy.

"Come on," she spoke to herself trying to speed up to Levy.

Then on the final lap Lucy noticed something get added to the tracks: weapons. Lucy smiled, this was her chance. She raced over to a box that contained a weapon. It was a missile. She slammed the space bar but before she could zoom past Levy her cart began to slow down. Erza passed by her and Lucy could hear her actual evil laughs. She finished the race in third place.

"I won!" Levy proclaimed.

"What happened with the guys?" Lucy asked, waiting for them to speak on the chat. "I was expecting them to win."

"Natsu wouldn't stop bumping into me," Gray answered.

"Gray wouldn't get out of my way," Gajeel said next.

"You two took up the entire track!" Natsu defended himself.

"I want a rematch," Gray demanded.

"Fine, but I'm still the winner for this game," Levy replied.

"Stay out of my way," Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel told each other.

Again Lucy watched the timer count down and the race begin. The boys didn't get into each other's way because Lucy found herself being in fifth place when the race finished.

"That was easy," Gray said, being the winner for this race.

"I was so close to beating you," Natsu responded. "Let's play again!"

"I didn't care about the game, anyway," Gajeel spoke stubbornly.

"I'm the official winner but since Gray won this round," Levy said, "he gets to pick the next game."

The group waited for Gray to pick his game and once he did, he posted it onto the chat. Lucy clicked on it and was taken to a page with a card game. There was only one instruction; get rid of the cards. This game had a more convenient chat being right next to the game board.

"Whoever wins twice wins this game," Gray informed.

"Alright!" everyone pressed the play button.

The game was set up as if the camera was on top of everyone. The pile of cards would go straight to the middle of the table. On the sides of Lucy's screen were cards facing down with everyone's names. Lucy was the first one to go so she put a random yellow card down out of her seven cards.

"What does the card with the question mark mean?" Levy asked on the chat.

"Try it," Natsu suggested.

When it was Levy's turn she placed an orange card with a question mark. Lucy stared at the screen waiting for something to happen.

"Nothing happened," Erza spoke.

And on cue, three cards were added to Levy's deck.

"That's not fair!" she exclaimed.

Before the group could even realize, the game was over and pixelated fireworks exploded onto the screen. Natsu's cards were gone.

"It was to be expected," Natsu said confidently.

"You haven't won yet," Gajeel reminded him.

With a tense feeling flowing out of Lucy's laptop as the game restarted she clicked on her cards cautiously. With one blink Natsu had been announced winner again.

"Did you cheat?" Lucy squinted at her screen in confusion.

"I would never," he replied.

"That makes Levy and Natsu at a tie now," Erza declared.

"Whatever stupid game Natsu picks I will win," Gray said.

"Let's see," Natsu spoke, posting a link.

The game Natsu had picked surprised Lucy. She shook her head slightly with a smile.

"He would pick a drawing game," she giggled to herself aloud.

"To be fair, Natsu has to draw normally," Erza said.

"I can't do that," he protested.

"If you don't draw bad then you automatically lose," Gray threatened. The group took Natsu's silence as an okay.

Lucy had seen this game before. One person had to draw a picture and the rest of the people had to guess it. Whoever guessed it the quickest won the most points. Then the person who drew switches with another person and so on. Natsu was the first person to draw.

Similar to the drawing website, one can see the cursor while the other person is drawing. Lucy watched Natsu's cursor float around the drawing board for a couple of seconds.

"He can't draw badly," Lucy typed, being more amused than everyone in the group.

"Just pass," Gajeel stated.

With several more movements, Natsu slowly drew a crooked line. By how slow he was drawing, Lucy could tell he was trying his best to not _be_ the best. It was incredibly entertaining.

Eventually, his messy lines could be considered a drawing. Lucy typed the first word that came to her head. Three points got added to her avatar. Once the word was guessed correctly it didn't show until after everyone had guessed.

"What is it?" Levy asked.

"I can't say," Lucy replied.

A timer displayed itself on the screen forcing everyone else to guess what the drawing was. Once the timer met zero the word that Natsu was drawing showed itself.

"You were trying to draw a puppy?" Gray inquired.

"You told me to draw bad," Natsu responded.

"Not that bad!" Levy told him.

Then it was Erza's turn. She wasn't the best artist but it was easy to figure out what it was. Lucy was the third person to guess right so she received one point. The others then drew and the next time Lucy glanced at who was next, it was her. She waited for the game to tell her what her word was.

"A volcano?" she frowned at her laptop.

Lucy's mind became blank and knowing Natsu was watching her didn't make her feel better. This was the reason why she didn't draw on the website; people watching her made her nervous. And also how she considered herself a disgrace at drawing. She knew she was taking too long so she took a deep breath and began to draw. As soon as she started creating the lava everyone had guessed her drawing.

"I'm glad you're good at drawing," Erza said.

"Not bad," Natsu commended.

"Can Gajeel even draw?" Gray asked, making everyone notice that Gajeel was the last one to draw.

She eyed Gajeel's cursor as it drew all over the board. It seemed like he was trying to draw space.

"An alien?" Levy guessed when Gajeel drew a green object.

"It looks like an octopus," Gray said.

"It's a squid," Natsu corrected him.

"Cyclops," Lucy typed, another three points adding onto her five points.

"I have no idea at all," Erza said in defeat.

The timer came to life again and nobody other than Lucy had guessed the drawing right.

"It was a cyclops?" Levy questioned after the round.

"Lucy is the only smart one out of everyone," Gajeel said bluntly.

"You're terrible at drawing," Natsu spoke, Gray and Erza agreeing.

"I won," Lucy realized with wide eyes. Spending months on that drawing website had paid off.

"Three people tied," Erza reported.

"Why don't we play games for fun now?" Gray proposed. "We can do the tie breaker at the end of the night."

Nobody objected to it because they all knew everyone was exhausted from being competitive for two hours straight.

"We should all play this connect four game," Levy sent a link. "We all have to separate into three groups, though."

"Why don't we all pick a random server and see who ends up with who?" Lucy offered.

"Okay," everyone agreed.

There were three boxes to choose from and Lucy clicked the one on the right without a second thought. Her breath caught in her throat when she found who also clicked the server.

"I know all the tricks to this game," was the first thing Natsu bragged about.

"So do I," Lucy confessed proudly. She constantly played this game to pass time.

The goal of the game was to connect four circles of the same color. Lucy was the black little circles and Natsu was the red. There was not one hesitant moment while the game was being played.

"I haven't tied in this game in a while," Natsu said after the game.

"One more time," Lucy challenged.

"More?" he repeated. "I'll win this time."

"Let's see," she replied.

Many clicks later Lucy slouched down in her chair with a sigh.

"Why can't I beat you?" she typed with aggravation.

"Because I'm the best," he answered.

"You can't beat me either," she pointed out.

"That means we're the best," he said.

"We are," she nodded, pushing down the blush that wanted to form.

For the next hour Lucy played different games with everyone. She's never had so much fun online before it was exhilarating.

"It's time," Erza revealed. "Levy, Natsu, and Lucy must break this tie now."

"What game are we going to play?" Lucy asked with anxiety.

"I have found the ultimate game," she responded. "Here."

Lucy was expecting a game with all sorts of puzzles and mazes but once the page loaded all the tension that had built up inside flowed out of her like air escaping a balloon.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Natsu inquired with doubt.

"This is the game?" Levy added.

"You can only win by pure luck," Lucy included.

"Good luck to all of you," Erza replied to them.

"Levy and Natsu go first," Gray ordered.

The game was brief. It was best two out of three and Natsu won both times.

"It was worth a shot," Levy said shamelessly.

"Hurry up, Natsu and Lucy," Gajeel pushed harshly.

Lucy clicked the scissors icon and waited for Natsu's attack. It was paper.

"I can win this," Lucy whispered excitedly. She decided to choose the rock icon this time. Natsu's attack was paper again.

"Who will win?" Erza asked as if she was speaking to an audience and not just three other people.

Lucy peeked at the three icons carefully. Her cursor was above rock but she dismissed the thought and went with paper. Natsu's attack was the scissors.

"Natsu is the winner!" Erza confirmed.

"Oh, no," Gray spoke.

"Don't make me do something stupid or else," Gajeel threatened.

"Be nice," Levy pleaded.

"I was so close," Lucy griped, not caring about the situation at all.

The group transferred back to their regular chat. Everyone was silent as Natsu was holding everyone's virtual fate in his hands.

"Gray," Natsu said plainly on purpose. He knew sending one individual message at a time would make everyone ten times more anxious.

"Just tell me already," Gray responded.

"I order you to address me as 'Your Majesty' for the rest of the year," Natsu spoke.

"The rest of the year? No way," he refused.

"There's only seven days left of the year, Gray," Erza reminded.

"You weren't supposed to tell him that!" Natsu seemed as if his plans got spoiled.

"Whatever, Your Majesty," Gray said.

"Okay, who's next?" Natsu sent although he was speaking to himself. "Gajeel!"

"You want me to sing, don't you?" Gajeel predicted.

"How did you know?" Lucy questioned.

"He writes his own songs and says he's a good singer. I don't believe him," Natsu explained.

"What do you want me to sing?" Gajeel asked.

"I order you to sing a fifteen second song about Levy."

"Me?" Levy exclaimed.

"Yep!" Natsu replied.

It was silent on the chat for a couple of seconds until Gajeel sent a link on the chat to everyone. It was the website that recorded audio. Lucy listened to the recording and tried to stifle her laugh at Gajeel's gruff voice.

"Did you just rhyme Levy with heavy?" Natsu asked.

"I said she wasn't heavy," Gajeel responded.

"It's the thought that counts. Thank you, Gajeel," Levy thanked. Lucy's lips curved into a small smile; she enjoyed seeing the two show that they were in a relationship.

"Your voice is okay, by the way," Natsu spoke, the group all knew this was his way of saying a compliment.

"Erza, I order you to play rock, paper, scissors with me," Natsu then demanded.

"You know you can't beat me, right?" Erza asked with complete seriousness.

"I vowed that I would beat you at a game that's one on one," he stated. "I have a feeling this might be the day."

The group returned back to the rock, paper, scissors game which made Lucy physically shudder. She felt ashamed to say she had been defeated by Natsu at a simple game like this.

The game was utterly short-lived. Lucy blinked once and Erza was already the winner.

"Natsu, it's night-time," Erza said slyly after her win.

"One day I will beat you!" he declared.

"Okay, Levy," Natsu instantly directed his attention back to his orders as if he didn't just lose to anyone. "I order you to help me next time with my English homework."

"How many times do I have to help you?" she questioned cautiously.

"Three times?" he negotiated.

"Okay!" Levy accepted without objection.

"And Lucy," Natsu said finally.

"Yes?" she typed with nervous fingers.

Lucy sat at the edge of her seat and waited for Natsu's message. Five minutes had passed and there was no message.

"Natsu?" she eventually asked, breaking the silence.

"He probably left us to get food," Gray inferred.

"Or forgot we're online," Erza added.

"I can't think of what to make her do!" Natsu's message finally appeared.

"It's okay," Lucy assured, thinking this could be a way of getting off the hook.

"You're not off the hook," he immediately spoke. "I'll think of an order soon."

And with that, the friends talked until it was Lucy's midnight.

"It's almost Christmas," Lucy told the group a minute before the clock moved into the next day.

"It's Christmas here," Gray and Gajeel said.

"Merry Christmas!" Levy conveyed as it became midnight.

"Merry Christmas," Lucy told the group.

"Hold on for two hours," Natsu said instead.

"I have to go to sleep now since a lot of family is coming over early," Levy revealed. "Have a merry Christmas, everyone! See you all later."

"I have to go, too," Gray followed. "My sister always wants to have breakfast early on this day. Merry Christmas," he logged off.

"Don't have a reason to be here," Gajeel said crudely. "Merry Christmas, I guess."

"Although it's not late for me, I want to go to sleep," Erza told Lucy and Natsu. "Have a merry Christmas, you two."

"Merry Christmas!" Lucy replied. Lucy heard a beep that did not come from the main chat. Erza had sent her a message on the individual chat.

"Have a nice Christmas with Natsu," her message said. Before Lucy could reply Erza had gone offline. Lucy scowled but didn't let the message faze her.

"That was a fun party," she typed to Natsu.

"I still need to think of something for you to do," he replied.

"Nothing embarrassing," Lucy ordered, switching roles.

Natsu didn't seem to care, "Fine. Nothing embarrassing."

"Good luck on your thinking," she said with no intention on helping him.

"Do you know what's been bugging me for the past hour?" he asked her.

"What?" she replied with curiosity.

"I can't beat you at connect four."

"Let's play again," Lucy spoke.

Lucy pulled up the website again and went to the connect four game. Natsu was already there.

"I can't believe I've only won once out of seven games," Natsu said with the same disbelief Lucy was feeling.

"We really are the best," she responded.

"We must be," he agreed.

With all the games Lucy had played today, she felt virtually and physically drained. She yawned and stretched her hands up in the air.

"I'm going to go now," she announced onto their individual chat.

"Wait!" he grabbed her attention. "Two more minutes."

Lucy peered at her clock and realized why he wanted her to stay longer. She told herself to stay awake for the next two the two minutes had gone by Lucy typed quickly to see if she could send the message before Natsu.

"Merry Christmas, Lucy."

"Merry Christmas, Natsu."

Both messages had been sent at the same time.

"Okay, you can go now," he let her go sheepishly. "When are you coming on later?"

"How about five?" she asked.

"Alright," he replied.

"Wait, your time or my time?" the two asked simultaneously.

Lucy smiled and tried not to laugh too loud, "Your time."

"You're right, Lucy. Time zones are the worst," Natsu admitted.

"I'm glad someone agrees," she typed with a grin. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Lucy logged off and turned off her laptop. She laid down on her bed and sighed happily. At last it was Christmas and for once she was happy it was.


	7. Chapter 7

**I would like to thank The Jonas Brothers for creating super cute songs and helping me write this chapter. c':**

**I had this annoying writers block while writing this and I winged most of it but hopefully it came out alright? I hope you all like it.**

**Please review and tell me how you thought about this chapter! Merry Christmas in July!** ˭̡̞(◞˃ᆺ˂)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐

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"Merry Christmas, Lucy!" Miss. Spetto enveloped Lucy in a tight hug the next morning.

"Merry Christmas, Miss. Spetto," Lucy returned the hug with a growling stomach.

"Come to the kitchen, I made a special breakfast," Miss. Spetto waved her hand towards her as she walked to the kitchen.

"What did you make?" Lucy asked although she already knew. Miss. Spetto made this breakfast each Christmas, but for the sake of making her happy, Lucy pretended to forget each year.

"Here you go," Miss. Spetto presented the dish. It was a large pancake, the shape of a Christmas tree, surrounded by miniature pieces of French toast in the shape of stars. A bottle of syrup sat beside the plate with a cup of steaming coffee.

"This isn't what you make each year!" the blonde exclaimed, stepping closer to the dish with wide eyes. She then covered her mouth at what she said.

"I already knew you pretended to be surprised each year," Miss. Spetto laughed. "Go try it."

Lucy sat down at the table and studied her fattening but delicious breakfast. She poured the syrup over the pancakes and French toast and set it back down on the table. She poked one of the stars with a fork and inserted in her mouth.

"So good," Lucy moaned while chewing the soft bread. She reached over to the cup of coffee and sipped some to see how hot it was. She abruptly stopped drinking when the coffee landed on her taste buds.

"Peppermint?" she looked up at Miss. Spetto and back down at her cup several times. The mint of the coffee startled her.

"They started selling it in stores," her guardian said with a satisfied smile.

"Is there more?" Lucy questioned even though she wasn't close at all to finishing her cup soon.

With Miss. Spetto's nods, Lucy had already planned to make more cups later in the day. This was her favorite type of coffee after all.

"Thank you so much," Lucy thanked with as much sincerity she could offer. Miss. Spetto's breakfasts were one of the things that made Lucy not dislike Christmas as much.

Miss. Spetto glanced at the clock and went back to Lucy nervously. Lucy understood what her movements meant.

"Go to work, Miss. Spetto," Lucy forced herself to say.

"I just hate leaving you alone on Christmas!" she whined but already slipping on her coat. "Do you have any friends available today?"

Lucy shook her head, "They're all busy today."

It wasn't a lie. She was referring to her online friends but Miss. Spetto didn't need to know that.

"I'll be fine," she guaranteed. "The cake is in the fridge, right?"

"Just like always," Miss. Spetto walked to Lucy and gave her another hug. "If you need me, just call me."

"I'll be fine!" Lucy repeated.

"Okay," Miss. Spetto sighed. "I'll see you later tonight!"

"See you," Lucy waved, taking her last bite of her breakfast. She listened to Miss. Spetto's car engine come to life and drive away.

"What do I do now?" Lucy eyed the time. It was hardly going to be eleven. She had to wait eight more slow hours for Natsu to come on. Despite having to wait, she felt happy. She couldn't remember how many years it had been since she had something to look forward to on Christmas day.

"I guess I'll do what I always do," she made herself another cup of peppermint coffee and shuffled to the couch. It was her own small tradition to watch all the Christmas themed episodes that were being aired that day. She had seen these episodes a handful of times but some parts still had the ability to make her giggle.

Hours passed by and Lucy was absolutely clueless on what to do. Time seemed to be frozen while she wanted it to pass faster. She stepped outside to feel how freezing it must be. She stood out there for a while in the cold still air, ignoring her goosebumps. There was not one noise, it really was like time was frozen.

Then as if someone pressed the play button, a single snowflake floated onto her arm. It melted as soon as it came but more snowflakes started to fall, having their own destination. Lucy watched the white powder dip down for a bit more then turned on her heels to go back inside her warm house.

Whoever pressed the play button had the courtesy of making time speed up as well, because it was almost time for her to go online. It was a bit early but she decided to turn on her laptop anyway. While her laptop warmed up, she turned on the lights that wrapped around her miniature Christmas tree in her room.

She hadn't been on the drawing website for some time so she did what came naturally; key the first letter of the website in the URL bar and hit the enter key. The page loaded quickly and Lucy was met with an empty room. There was always someone online in the FT room, she had never seen it deserted before. With a slight eerie feeling at the silence, she exited out of the room and stared at the blank screen.

It was half an hour before the said time for Natsu and Lucy to meet. Lucy sighed and went ahead and logged on to wait for him. Though to her surprise, she didn't need to wait.

"You're early," Lucy typed.

"No, I'm pretty sure you're early," Natsu replied.

"I ran out of things to do," she conveyed.

"Me too," he said.

"How has your Christmas been so far?" she asked.

"Cold and snowy. I slipped on ice three times while walking outside," Natsu sent, making Lucy read the message with a smile.

"It's snowing here, too," she revealed. Just as she sent the message she heard strong gusts of wind flying past her window. She hoped Miss. Spetto would make it home without trouble.

"Does it snow a lot in Acalypha?"

"Not as much as it is now," she responded, the winds only getting louder. "It sounds like a storm is coming."

"Let's hope the storm doesn't affect your internet," he joked.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good," she agreed. "Did you get any presents today?"

"For once, I did," he answered. "Even though I got it for myself. Did you get any presents?"

"What did you get?" she questioned excitedly. She always loved to hear what others had received on this day. She was about to type that she didn't get any presents, but then again the cake and breakfast left by Miss. Spetto was considered a present in Lucy's book. "Yes, I got a present," she said.

"I bought myself a microphone," he replied. Lucy read what he said a few times. Did that mean she was going to be able to hear what she's been aching to hear for the past two weeks?

"I want to try it out," he spoke. "Can I?"

"With me?" she asked.

"No, with myself," he teased, making Lucy cheeks instantly flush.

"How can you try it out?" she thought back to the website where one can record their voice. She wasn't sure if there was a chat.

"Here," he posted a link. Lucy followed where the website took her.

"Online video chat?" she inquired after viewing the website. She didn't think she was prepared to show her face to him yet.

"You don't have to show your face," he assured, answering her thoughts. "You can talk on there by typing or talking."

"I see," she replied.

"I named the room FT. Search for it on the website and it should be the only one," he explained.

"Very original," Lucy commented then searched for the room.

She typed the two letters in the search bar and clicked the only result that showed up. After typing in her name as her username, she observed how everything was set up.

There were two squares beside each other that had a speaker with a slash across it. One square was labeled Natsu while the other was labeled Lucy. Below the squares was a chat and beside that were the users online in the room. It was a simple layout.

"I really hope my microphone works. I don't want to slip on more ice to get a new one," Natsu said.

"I hope it works, too," she responded with complete honesty. She longed to hear his voice.

"Let's turn our microphones on at the same time," he proposed. Lucy eyes flicked to her square that had an icon which enabled the microphone to work.

"Okay," she typed with trembling fingers and a stomach filled with butterflies.

"When one minute passes, we'll turn it on," he said.

Lucy peered at the time on the corner of her screen. She couldn't figure out if she wanted the minute to slow down or speed up. Once she saw the minute pass, her heart pounded as she turned on her microphone. Her square and Natsu's square no longer had a line across the speaker.

Even though both microphones were on, Lucy and Natsu were both silent. Lucy couldn't make her voice work.

"I don't know what to say!" Lucy typed frantically. A noise came out of Lucy's laptop speakers, it sounded like movement. Then faint taps of Natsu typing filled her ears.

"I'll start," he sent. After Lucy read his words, a voice sounded out of her laptop that immediately gave Lucy the chills.

"Hi, Lucy," Natsu spoke.

Lucy gaped at her screen. His voice sounded exactly how she thought it would sound. It was even better than she imagined. He sounded like a whole other person but she knew the voice couldn't fit anyone better other than Natsu. She wanted to hear him say her name again.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

"Y-Yes!" Lucy squeaked with her hands shooting to her face. "Hi, Natsu."

"You sound different when you're speaking on here," he stated.

"Is that bad?" she listened to her voice to see if it really did sound different.

"No," he replied.

"Well, I can't say anything about your voice," a small sigh escaped her lips.

"Have you been wanting to hear what I sound like?" he inquired. The smirk Lucy pictured Natsu with was more vivid than ever.

"No! Of course not," she exclaimed a bit too quickly.

"I wanted to hear your voice, too," his soft tone made Lucy's face as red as the stripes on a peppermint.

"Your voice sounds funny," she ignored the temperature of her face.

"How?"

"You have a different accent than me," she informed.

"No, you have a different accent!" he countered. "Say coffee."

"Coffee," Lucy said.

"Why do you say it like that?" he chuckled.

"Why do _you_ say it like that?" she retorted. "You don't need to stretch out the last part so much."

"Do you say soda or pop?" he asked.

"Soda," she replied.

"At least you're saying something right," he mumbled.

"Since I'm older, I'm the right one here," she declared.

"By two hours!" Natsu responded just as Lucy thought he would.

"It's a big difference," she pushed his buttons some more.

"Whatever," he sighed.

"Do you smirk when you talk to people online?" she felt a light feeling bubble up inside her; finally she was able to ask this question after a month.

"How did you know?" he asked with bewilderment.

"Wild guess," she shrugged with fulfillment.

The two started to speak with each other for the next few hours. She adapted to speaking out loud faster than typing. Lucy couldn't tell if it was because how comfortable Natsu made her feel or because she was more used to talking out loud. She didn't bother to worry about it.

"I can't believe they just started selling peppermint coffee in stores in Acalypha," Natsu said with incredulity.

"And Magnolia has sold it since you were a child," Lucy felt disappointed at her town.

Natsu started to say something but was interrupted by Lucy's ringing phone. Miss. Spetto's name flashed onto her phone.

"Be quiet for a second, Natsu," she turned away from her laptop and answered her phone.

"Yes, Miss. Spetto?" she spoke into her phone.

"Hi, Lucy! I have some bad news," Miss. Spetto's voice was shaky.

"What is it?" Lucy straightened her back and listened attentively.

"I can't come home tonight. There's so much snow on the roads, I can't drive," Miss. Spetto told her.

"Where are you going to stay tonight?" Lucy tried not to panic.

"My co-worker is allowing me to stay at their home for the night. I'll return as soon as the roads get cleared up!" Miss. Spetto informed optimistically.

"Alright," Lucy felt relief come over her. "I'll be okay here. Stay safe, Miss. Spetto."

"Don't worry about me, Lucy! Oh, my phone is going to die. Don't stay up too late," Miss. Spetto hung up before Lucy could say anything back.

Lucy slowly spun back around to her laptop. She didn't know what to say.

"So I'm going to be alone for the rest of the night," Lucy stated, still trying to process everything.

"No you're not," Natsu replied.

"What?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I'll stay with you until you fall asleep," he said simply.

"What if I don't fall asleep?" she challenged.

"Then I'll stay up with you all night until you do," he answered.

Lucy grinned until her cheeks began to ache. "Okay," she nodded.

"Can I ask who Miss. Spetto is?" Natsu asked hesitantly.

Lucy placed her hands in her lap and breathed in, her shoulders going backwards.

"Miss. Spetto is the person I live with," she told him.

"So you live with your parents and Miss. Spetto?"

"Not exactly," she stammered. Not even the people at her school were aware of this. Natsu was the first person to know.

"My mom died when I was young and I'm nearly nonexistent to my dad because of his work. Miss. Spetto takes care of me," she said, not ready for Natsu's reaction.

"That must be hard. I'm sorry," his voice was gentle enough to make Lucy want to burst into tears.

"It is," she swallowed down the lump in her throat and blinked away the tears waiting to fall. She didn't know what reaction she was going to get but this was the best.

"What about you? Who do you live with?" she questioned, eager to hear about Natsu's life. With how he was, he must have a family just as compelling as him.

"I live alone," he revealed.

"Where does your family live?" she asked curiously.

"They all passed away," he responded.

"I'm sorry," was the only thing she could say.

"You sound so sad," he said, not really bothered with his situation.

"Of course I'm sad!" she proclaimed. "Do you work to pay for your apartment as such?"

"I come from a really wealthy family. Everything got sent to me," he admitted.

"That must be nice."

"I don't really like to spend it," he continued. "I sell my drawings to people and make my money that way."

"Speaking of drawing," Lucy recalled. "Nobody is in the room on the other website."

"Really? I've never seen it empty before," he replied with the same shock Lucy felt when she saw it hours before.

"Want to go on it?" she suggested.

"Let's go," he accepted.

Lucy touched her mouse, which had become cold from not being touched, and opened a new tab to go to the drawing website. It was just Natsu and her.

"It looks so weird not seeing random people draw really bad stuff," he laughed.

"I remember someone tried to draw a horse but it looked like a hippo," she reminisced with a smile.

"I remember that, too. Then everyone told him that he should stick to—"

"Drawing stick figures," they said together.

The two laughed together at the memory.

"Why didn't you talk when you were on here?" Natsu questioned.

"I was scared," she answered.

"Of what?"

"I don't really know," she sighed.

"People on here are pretty scary," he said with a touch of sarcasm.

"You're the scariest of them all," she quipped.

"With my amazing drawing skills," he added.

"Can you draw something again?" she asked greedily.

"What do you want me to draw?"

"Something Christmas?" she submitted her idea.

"Why can't I ever say no to you?" Natsu muttered but Lucy heard it loud and clear. Her cheeks had started to become sore after so much smiling.

Lucy watched Natsu's familiar cursor float up to the board. He began to draw as he always did but this time was completely different. This was only something that could only be experienced while on voice chat. Natsu hummed while drawing. His humming soothed Lucy more than music ever could.

"Are you humming Christmas music?" she asked softly, not sure if speaking would interrupt his concentration.

"I have to get into the mood," he replied as if it was obvious.

"Of course," she giggled and resumed watching him draw and listening to his smooth hums.

Once Natsu had finished the drawing, she couldn't tear her eyes away from it.

"Hope you enjoyed that, Lucy," he said after he finished, making Lucy's heart jump into her throat.

"Thanks," she gazed at the drawing. It was a Christmas tree with presents ringed around it. One of the presents was partly open. It was a laptop with two letters on the top, Lucy could only see the letters as an N and L. She felt the urge to take a picture of it.

"You draw so well," she admired.

"Consider it your present from me," he announced.

"Thank you, Natsu," she beamed with bright cheeks.

"Do you want to draw something on it?" he offered.

"No way!" she declined with her hands up. "I'd only ruin it."

"It's okay if you ruin it," he assured.

"I don't know what to add," she confessed after scanning through the drawing.

"The top of the tree looks a little bare," he said, making Lucy's eyes shift to the point of the tree.

"You want me to put the star on the tree?" she inquired.

"Virtually," he responded.

She hovered her mouse over the various colors. She picked the shade of yellow she liked most and moved to the board.

"I'm going to mess it up," she warned.

"It's okay," he confirmed.

Lucy focused on the point of the tree and slowly drew the best star she could create.

"It's crooked," he commented.

"Stars are always crooked on the top of the tree!" she defended.

"Are they?" he asked with complete seriousness.

"I think so," she replied. The only memories she had left of Christmas with her mother and father had gone blurry over the years.

Before the conversation went dark, Lucy heard a drink begin to call her name.

"I'm going to get some coffee. I'll be back," she started to rise from her chair.

"I'll get some, too," shuffling started to sound through Lucy's speakers.

Lucy's Christmas night went on filled with laughter, joy, and cups of coffee. She felt like she was speaking to the true Natsu. She loved every aspect about him.

"The coffee isn't helping anymore," she yawned out.

"You should sleep," he advised.

"I will," she spoke with her eyelids falling down and widening again after a few seconds. "Thank you for spending Christmas with me, Natsu."

"Well, it's not Christmas anymore," he remarked.

"Thank you for spending December 26th with me," she fixed with a small smile.

"See you tomorrow," he said.

"Goodnight."

Lucy was a few more movements of a mouse away from the exit icon but Natsu stopped her.

"Wait," he raised his voice to get her attention. "I just thought of an order for you."

"I forgot about that," she remembered. "What is it?"

"I want you to spend Christmas with me next year," he ordered coyly.

"That doesn't sound like an order," she teased him slightly.

"It sounds weird to say order," he grumbled.

"I look forward to next Christmas, then," she said before she realized how embarrassing it actually sounded.

"Me too," he agreed. "Goodnight, Lucy."

"Goodnight, Natsu," she repeated for the second time. She exited out of the website and breathed out a breath she didn't notice she was holding. Several seconds later, she heard a beep come from the regular chat.

"I'm so happy my microphone works," Natsu's message said. Lucy felt content that she could read it in his voice.

"I'm happy, too," she truthfully told him. She was overjoyed but she kept that to herself.

Lucy logged off before Natsu replied back. Drowsiness had taken over her body so she lugged herself to her bed. She fell asleep with a bubbly feeling in her chest but she was too tired to detect what it was.

At last she had heard the voice of the person she loved and she wasn't disappointed in the slightest.


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter is inc****redibly disappointing. I've just had the worst writers block for this story. I promise next chapter will be good.**

**I've gotten a lot of followers for this story, though! 100 is so many, ah. It makes me super happy. Thank you all so much.**

**If any of you have free time, go check out my other story, Secret Lovers. In the story Natsu is a teacher and Lucy is a student. If you like forbidden loves, this is the story for you.**

**And if you are reading Secret Lovers already, you're awesome and I want to give you a virtual hug.**

**Okay, enough self-advertising. Here is your weekly dose of online love. ~**

* * *

Lucy woke up the next day to a chilly and empty house. The light feeling that resided in her chest had lessened but she could still feel it swirling inside her. She didn't mind it.

She lugged to the kitchen with her warm blanket wrapped around her shoulders and noticed a small piece of paper in the middle of the kitchen table.

"I made it home. Had to go back to work. Breakfast in the microwave," Lucy read the paper left by Miss. Spetto, relief flooding through her. Opening the microwave and peeking inside, she shut the door and heated up the pancakes. She nibbled on them silently while looking outside at the untouched powdery ground.

Later on, she turned on her laptop and logged on to talk to her friends. They talked to each other every day, it was weird not talking to all of them for just one day. When she logged on, she saw that everyone was logged on except for Natsu.

"How was your Christmas yesterday?" Levy asked immediately on the girls' chat.

"It was good," Lucy replied.

"What did you do with Natsu?" Erza asked next.

"We talked," Lucy responded.

"Why are you being so vague?" Levy whined. "You're probably smiling really wide right now, aren't you?"

"I'm not!" she typed with a grin. She didn't know how they would react to her revealing she talked to him aloud.

"How was your Christmas, Levy and Erza?" Lucy questioned.

"My family never shuts up," Levy answered.

"Jellal came over to my house," Erza replied.

"Really?" Lucy and Levy sent their messages together.

"Yes. We only talked a little, though," she informed.

"What did you talk about?" Lucy asked.

"He said my hair stands out a lot when it's snowing."

"Oh yeah, your hair is red, isn't it?" Levy inquired.

"Scarlet," Erza corrected.

"I wish I could spend Christmas with the person I love," Levy complained.

"How was Gajeel's Christmas?" Lucy wondered.

"He won't tell me!" Levy exclaimed.

"I'll ask him," Erza said. All the girls switched to the main chat.

"Gajeel, how was your Christmas?" Erza asked.

"Why do you want to know?" he responded.

"I'm curious," she replied.

"Hold on," he spoke.

Lucy watched the chat expecting Gajeel to speak again but he didn't. Five minutes passed and the chat was silent. Then a number one bounced up on the girls chat.

"I can't tell you what Gajeel was doing yesterday," Erza told Levy.

"Why not?" Levy asked.

"He said to not tell you," she answered.

"But you can tell me, right?" Lucy remarked.

"Sure," Erza replied.

"Tell me, too!" Levy commanded.

Several seconds went by then Erza messaged Lucy. She clicked on the individual chat eagerly.

"He was working," Erza's messages said.

"Working?" Lucy repeated.

"He's said he's trying to make enough money to go and meet Levy," she explained.

Lucy's eyes widened along with her cheeks. Her smile disappeared once she realized, "But Levy can't meet him for a while."

"Gajeel doesn't seem to care about that," she replied.

"Wow," was the only thing Lucy seemed to know how to type. She then returned to the girls chat and directed the conversation somewhere else so Levy would stop worrying about it.

"What are you two doing for New Years Eve?"

"Staying home," Levy answered.

"So am I. What about you?" Erza asked.

"I'm staying home," Lucy responded.

"Let's celebrate the new year together!" Levy proposed.

"Erza, you'll be an hour late," Lucy said.

"Or you're an hour early," she countered.

"What are you two doing for New Years Eve?" Levy asked Gajeel and Gray on the main chat.

"I'm staying home this year," Gray replied.

"Me too," Gajeel spoke.

"So we're all going to be together on New Years Eve?" Lucy asked.

"Yep!" Levy responded, speaking for everyone else.

Lucy glanced at everyone online. "I wonder what Natsu is going to do," she spoke to herself aloud. She wanted him to be included on this, too. In the midst of her thinking, a new user joined the chat, their voice still fresh on Lucy's mind.

"And my day just got ruined. Thanks, Your Majesty," Gray said instantly.

Lucy tilted her head slightly confused. She then remembered what Natsu ordered Gray. She couldn't hold back her laughs.

"Sorry, I can't hear you," Natsu responded, clearly trying to provoke him.

"I'm talking to you through text!" Gray stated.

"Stop being annoying," Erza demanded the two. They didn't fight back, of course.

"Natsu, what are you doing for New Years Eve?" Levy questioned.

"I'm not going anywhere," he replied. "But I might go see the ball drop."

"I forgot that you're in Magnolia," Levy recalled. "It looks like a lot of fun on TV."

"The ball drop here is better than Magnolia's," Gray spoke.

"It makes sense since Magnolia's ball drop is the most viewed on TV," Natsu retorted.

"I didn't know there were two ball drops in Fiore," Lucy typed perplexed.

"I didn't know either," Levy sided with Lucy.

"Told you," Natsu said with a smirk.

"So I guess this means we're all spending New Years together?" Erza asked.

"Unfortunately," Gray answered.

"Are we going to play games again?" Gajeel asked the group.

"Let's play for fun," Gray answered. "I don't want to put myself in a position where Your Majesty might order me around again."

"That reminds me," Levy spoke, "Natsu hasn't ordered Lucy to do anything yet."

"He did yesterday," Lucy replied.

"What did he order you?" Erza questioned.

"I told her to spend Christmas with me next year," Natsu responded. Reading the message, Lucy's cheeks heated up.

"Wow, I didn't know you were like that," Levy said.

"Forcing a girl to spend Christmas with you. That's cruel," Gray joked.

"Weak order," Gajeel commented.

"I forgot to mention," Natsu remembered. "I got a microphone."

"I know what we can do! Instead of playing games, let's all voice chat," Levy offered.

"That sounds fun," Erza spoke.

"It does," Lucy agreed. After all, if they all voice chatted she would get to hear Natsu's voice again.

"Sounds cool," Gray responded.

"Having to listen to Natsu's voice will be a nightmare," Gajeel stated.

"I have the best voice in this group," Natsu bragged.

"Excuse me?" Erza asked.

"Nevermind," Natsu replied. "Second best."

"That's right," Erza said in satisfaction.

"I wasn't talking about you," he spoke.

Lucy eyed the message for a couple of minutes. She couldn't shake off the feeling that he was talking about her.

So the cold days and nights went on. Lucy spent the whole day speaking with her friends enjoying the conversations that went nowhere but interested her each second. She especially loved the chat with Levy and Erza.

Girls at her school were all alike and followed the same obnoxious trends. Erza and Levy were no way near similar to them. Even though the three were all opposites, they clicked. Lucy was glad to say they were her best friends.

It was the night before New Years Eve and Lucy felt impatient. She wanted to talk to everyone already.

"I'm so excited for tomorrow," Lucy typed to Natsu after everyone had left for the night.

"To hear my voice again, right?" he joked.

"Of course," she joked back, although it had some truth in it.

"I don't think I'm going to go watch the ball drop this year," he spoke.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because I'd rather talk to you than be surrounded by strangers," he stated simply.

Lucy typed with quick and flustered fingers, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," he replied. "There's always next year, anyway."

"I want to go see the ball drop," she imagined all the blinding lights the TV displayed.

"Come to Magnolia and see it with me," he offered jokingly.

"You only get one order," she teased.

"That'll be my order next time," he responded.

"I'm sure it will be," she laughed which ended up morphing into a yawn. This was her signal.

"I'm going now. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Natsu."

"I can't wait to hear your voice again. Goodnight, Lucy," he spoke.

She looked at the eight words carefully and blinked to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Her heart pounded so loudly she could hear it in her ears. Before she could say anything that would embarrass her further, she logged off.

"I can't wait to hear your voice again," she repeated his words softly while closing her laptop. That simple sentence made her feel like she was floating. She already had started to regret not saying it back.

Maybe falling in love with someone she met online wasn't as bad as she thought it was.


	9. Chapter 9

**I updated this chapter really late, wow. August is usually the time where I'm super busy. Secret Lovers will be updated in a day or two, although I told everyone the 3rd. Sorry about all this, guys.**

**I'm not a huge fan of how I started this chapter but I couldn't think of anything and I had just finished watching the new Fairy Tail episode.**

**Big thanks to: thecagedsong. They suggested a scene about Lucy speaking about her school life back in chapter 4. It's been a while but I'm finally using their idea! Thanks so much. C:**

**I had fun writing this chapter, minus the writer's block, but I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

It was the last day of the year and Lucy wanted nothing except for time to move faster. She sprawled across her bed, watched re-runs of her favorite TV shows while kicking her feet in the air, and sipped multiple cups of peppermint coffee. Time dragged on slower than she ever thought it could.

When it was a reasonable time in the evening and Lucy assumed at least some people were on, she logged onto the chat. Erza, Gray, and Gajeel were online.

"Lucy, can you knock some sense into Gajeel?" Gray asked.

"What?" she typed with confusion.

"Gajeel thinks that if dragons existed, he'd be able to slay one," he explained.

"How would you be able to kill one?" Lucy asked Gajeel.

"Magic," he replied.

"I think defeating a dragon would be difficult," Erza spoke.

"Unless you were strong," Lucy said.

"Like me," Gajeel responded.

"In your dreams," Gray quipped.

Then several seconds later, Natsu's name surfaced onto the users online.

"I can slay a dragon faster than Gajeel," Natsu claimed instantly.

"How much do you want to bet?" Gajeel asked.

"Everything I own," he replied.

"Deal," Gajeel spoke.

Lucy watched Natsu and Gajeel taunt each other on the chat. They sent so many messages at a time her eyes had a difficulty just skimming through each.

"When do you think they'll remember dragons don't exist?" Gray asked Erza and Lucy.

"Probably never," Erza responded.

"Let's just let them have their fun," Lucy said, her message disappearing at the top of the chat due to Natsu and Gajeel still insulting each other.

An hour had passed by and the shadows dancing across Lucy's walls told her it was near sunset. She had expected to already be voice chatting with everyone by now.

"Where's Levy?" Lucy questioned.

"She's usually on by now," Erza spoke.

"She texted me earlier saying that she had stuff to do," Gajeel answered.

"Like what?" Gray asked.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" he responded bluntly. Moments like that had Lucy trying to figure out who was more terrifying; Gajeel or Erza.

Then as if Levy knew the group was talking about her, she logged on.

"Did you guys miss me that much?" Levy asked.

"What were you doing?" Lucy inquired.

"I had to help around the house," she informed.

"Since Levy is here now, when are we going to voice chat?" Erza asked the group.

"Right now?" Gray suggested.

"We don't have a website," Levy realized.

"Are you sure?" Natsu asked then sent a link to a website, granting Lucy memories that made her face heat up.

"What's the room name?" Gray questioned.

"FT," Natsu answered.

Lucy clicked the link and to her surprise didn't need to search for the room. The link directly took her to the FT room. The only other person in the room was Natsu.

"You two got here fast," Gray spoke, being the third person to enter the chat. Now there were three squares instead of two.

"You just got here slow," Natsu replied.

"Have you been on here before, Lucy?" Erza asked when she logged on.

"Once," Lucy responded. She decided to keep the part with speaking to Natsu alone to herself. When six squares had displayed themselves on Lucy's screen, anxiety had started to sink in. She was just as nervous to speak with everyone out loud compared to talking with Natsu.

"When should we turn on our microphones?" Levy asked.

"When one minute passes?" Lucy proposed.

"I was going to say that," Natsu said.

Lucy smiled but chose to not reply. She had to eye the clock after all. As soon as one minute had passed, altogether the slashes vanished from the squares. Several noises of moving around sounded from Lucy's speakers.

"Who is going to talk first?" a voice asked. It immediately gave Lucy goosebumps.

"You just talked first," Lucy replied to Natsu without a second thought.

"You just talked second," he responded.

"I talked third," a deep voice chimed in. Lucy had a feeling it was Gray.

"I talked fourth," a high voice this time added. It was obvious to everyone it was Levy.

"I talked fifth," another voice said. There was no doubt it was Erza.

"Sixth, I guess," a voice more gruff than Natsu's and Gray's combined spoke. Lucy had never heard a voice deeper than Gajeel's.

"How was everyone's day?" Levy inquired to the group before everything became awkward.

Lucy opened her mouth to speak but at once, four voices spoke at the same time. Everyone's voice mixed with one another.

"Well, that was bad," Gray said after the talking had stopped.

"We have to take turns speaking," Erza explained.

"Typing is better," Gajeel sighed.

"Sometimes," Natsu and Levy said together.

"What happened with Lucy?" Levy questioned.

"Oh," Lucy spoke with wide eyes. "I was just listening."

"Your voice sounds different on here, Lucy," Erza commented, reminding Lucy that Natsu had said that as well.

"This is my first time hearing Natsu's voice," Levy recalled.

"Me too," Erza and Gajeel said.

"It's better than you thought it was," he replied.

"I have to admit, it is," Gray answered. "I'm glad I don't have to hear you eating chips this time."

"I have some chips in the kitchen," Natsu spoke. "I'll go get some."

"No!" everyone shouted.

"Fine," he muttered in disappointment.

This seemed to lighten up the mood as everyone laughed together. Lucy would never admit this, but she loved being able to say she heard Natsu's voice first.

Other than the few uncomfortable pauses throughout the night, everyone had talked to one another just like they would on the chat. Lucy preferred talking out loud to the group and not typing. Everyone seemed more real and told Lucy that everyone did really exist.

"It's going to take me weeks to remember it's a new year when I write the date down at school," Gray groaned when it was half an hour until his midnight.

"I barely just got used to writing this year's date," Gajeel agreed.

"I don't have to write dates down," Erza told the group happily. To Lucy, Erza had gone back to being the mature teenager she was. Although there were glimpses throughout the night that showed she was just like the rest. It made Lucy want to sigh in relief.

"Oh, I forgot to ask!" Levy perked up. "Do any of you have any New Year's resolutions?"

"I want to have my art get displayed at an art museum," Natsu answered with a serious tone. Lucy silently cheered him on.

"I haven't thought about one," Lucy realized as she thought about it.

"Me either," Gajeel and Gray sided with her.

"I want to join a sport," Erza spoke.

"What sport?" Lucy asked.

"Something with swords," she replied simply.

"It fits you," Gray admitted.

"Why haven't you joined before?" Levy questioned.

"My parents don't approve," Erza replied. "They want me to focus on school."

"Why did you have to bring up school?" Levy whined in response. "I don't want to go back in two days."

"I go back in five days," Natsu boasted slightly.

"These have been the quickest two weeks of my life," Lucy said with a small sigh.

"You're welcome," Natsu replied.

"And it begins," Gray mumbled as beeping noises sounded out from his side.

"What's that?" Levy asked.

"My friends from school like to text me nonstop until it's midnight," Gray explained with irritation.

"So I'm not the only one!" Levy responded with shock. "My friends do that, too."

"You two have weird friends," Natsu said with a frown in his voice.

"Do your friends from school do that, Lucy?" Levy asked, hoping she would prove Natsu wrong.

Lucy froze at the question. She didn't know how they would react after knowing.

"Well," she began slowly. She shifted in her seat while trying to look for the right words. "I don't have a lot of friends at school."

"You don't have friends at school?" Erza inquired.

"No," Lucy laughed softly at herself. Nobody knew how to respond and Lucy could tell. The tense feeling bothered her immensely.

"I'm not alone at school," she continued. "I talk to everyone but I don't think of them as my friends."

"Well, that's makes me feel better," Natsu said.

"I couldn't believe that someone like you was alone at school by herself!" Levy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I can't see you like that," Gray agreed.

"So you're saying that you don't get texts?" Gajeel asked.

"That's what she just said," Erza answered. It was crystal clear she was rolling her eyes.

"I was trying to brighten the mood," Gajeel grumbled.

"We should all text Lucy once it's midnight," Natsu suggested.

"We need her phone number," Levy reminded him.

"I'm okay!" Lucy assured. "Talking to you all is enough."

"Oh, Lucy," Levy awed. "I want to hug you right now!"

"Do you think we're all going to meet someday?" Erza asked the group curiously.

"I thought we were already going to meet each other," Natsu said in disbelief.

"Without saying anything? Sometimes I wonder how your brain thinks," Gray spoke.

"I don't know how I feel about the thought of being in the same room as Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel," Lucy confessed.

"We're going to need to be in a room with really soft furniture," Levy responded.

"Happy New Year," Gray announced.

"Happy New Year!" Levy answered back with joy. "Now just one more hour for Lucy and I."

"I can hear all the people making out in my neighborhood," Gajeel informed with disgust.

"You wish you could be one of those people," Natsu joked.

"Yeah, I do," Gajeel countered.

"Somebody better record Levy and Gajeel meeting or else," Erza threatened.

"And Natsu and Lucy," Levy added.

"Why us?" Lucy asked.

"No reason!" Levy replied nervously.

"I have to go now," Gray spoke. "It was cool talking to you all like this."

"Bye!" the group said. There were now five squares on the website.

"I have to go soon," Gajeel revealed. "I have stuff to do tomorrow."

"It's okay if you go," Levy responded.

"I'll wait," he replied. There was a gentleness to his tone that made Lucy recognize that although Gajeel was harsh he also had a soft spot to him.

"Have Levy and Gajeel voice chatted before?" Lucy wondered aloud.

"We video chat once a week," Levy answered.

"Oh," Lucy said with wide eyes.

"Was it awkward when you first did?" Erza asked.

"Gajeel kept looking away from the screen," Levy giggled.

"Be quiet," he responded. "I didn't know what to do."

"And now Gajeel never wants to stop talking," Levy spoke.

Lucy listened to Gajeel and Levy playfully bicker at each other with a smile. They replied to each other so naturally, she couldn't help but be envious.

"Five more minutes, Lucy!" Levy cried out happily.

"I'm excited," Lucy stated while eying the date on the corner of her laptop screen. Although it was going to be odd seeing the date say January.

"I feel left behind," Natsu mumbled.

"You are," Erza replied.

"Just a few more seconds," Levy said excitedly. Lucy prepared herself to hear Levy's shrieks in the seconds she had left until midnight.

"Happy New Year!" Levy screeched.

"Happy New Year," Lucy responded.

"Happy New Year, Lucy," Natsu said, immediately making her face a deep shade of crimson.

"Why don't I get one?" Levy complained.

"Happy New Year, Levy," Gajeel spoke.

"Now the only ones left are Natsu and I," Erza declared.

"I'm going now. I don't want to waste two more hours waiting on Natsu," Gajeel announced.

"I don't want to see the new year with you," Natsu retorted.

"Good," he replied. "Bye."

And with that, four squares remained.

"I'll be back. Somebody is at the door," Erza told the group.

"I hope it's Jellal," Levy hoped with excitement.

"Who's Jellal?" Natsu asked.

"Nobody," Lucy replied.

"No fair," Natsu whined in a high voice. "I won't tell anyone!"

Lucy wished Natsu's voice would stay in her ears longer. With all her strength she shook her head, "Sorry."

"I-I have to go," Erza's shaky voice popped up.

"Is everything okay?" Levy questioned.

"Jellal wants me to walk with him," she answered over the noise of her movements.

"Have fun!" Levy cheered with delight.

"Good luck!" Lucy smiled at the obvious frantic steps Erza was taking.

"Happy New Year!" Erza said quickly, her square disappearing.

"I still want to know who Jellal is," Natsu grumbled.

"I need to stretch," Levy yawned. "I'll be back."

"I need to stretch, too," Lucy agreed. She had sat down for three hours straight, her legs had pleaded her to move around.

She raised herself from her chair and paced around her room. After realizing she was going to need to wait an hour and half more until Natsu's midnight, she decided to get some coffee.

"I'm going to get something to drink," Lucy leaned on her desk on one hand and spoke down to her laptop.

"I already have coffee," Natsu replied, slurping the drink loudly.

"Is it peppermint?" she asked with a grin.

"Of course," he answered.

"I'll be back," she stepped away from her laptop and exited her room.

After heating up the delectable coffee, she sipped the warm drink while returning to her room. She plopped back down in her chair and shook her mouse from side to side to revive her laptop. Her eyes widened when she noticed one of the squares had gone away.

"Where's Levy?" Lucy inquired.

"She said she had to go do something and left," Natsu responded.

"I see," she spoke. She had a strong feeling Levy left on purpose.

"She probably left to go video chat with Gajeel," he predicted.

"That must be nice," she sighed at the thought.

"Let's video chat someday," he said, a small speck of shyness behind his words.

"Okay," she nodded with a small smile. For some reason, showing her face to Natsu didn't seem so scary anymore.

"I wish I could talk to you every night like this," his gentle voice made Lucy's heart accelerate.

"Why don't we?" she suggested.

"Really?" he asked with incredulity.

"I want to," she replied. She couldn't believe she was actually saying it. "But when school starts again, I can't late at night."

"Miss. Spetto will be asleep, right?"

"Right," she answered. After a pause she realized, "I'm probably going to be doing homework when we talk."

"We can do our homework together," he chuckled slightly at his suggestion.

"Sounds like a plan," she grinned. She had never wanted homework so badly before.

The two spoke with each other for the next hour and a half, waiting for Natsu's midnight to arrive. Lucy was amazed at how comfortable she felt talking to him. Nobody had ever made her felt that way.

"Three more minutes," she announced.

"It's going to be weird seeing January on the corner of my screen," he stated.

"It is weird," she replied, looking at the January on her screen.

"Happy New Year, Natsu," she spoke once the time showed it was two in the morning.

"Happy New Year, Lucy," he responded.

"You already said that to me," she remarked.

"I wanted to say it again," he said easily. "You know what?"

"What?" she asked.

"I haven't eaten since last year," he joked.

Lucy had heard these jokes every year but for some unknown reason laughed out loud until she was gasping for air. Natsu had somehow joined the laughter as well.

"Why are you laughing?" she questioned.

"Your laugh is contagious," he answered.

"Sorry," she mumbled with pink cheeks.

"This is the first time I've been excited about a new year," he admitted.

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Because of you," he said softly.

"Oh," was the only word that Lucy seemed to know.

"You can go to sleep now," he spoke.

"Alright," she said in between a yawn. "I'll talk to you later."

"What time are we going to meet here?" he inquired.

"Five?" she offered.

"Sure," he accepted.

"Your time or my time?" they asked each other together. A large smile was painted onto Lucy's face.

"Let's do your time," he spoke.

"Are you sure you want to come on at three?" she asked.

"The earlier the better," he assured smoothly. Lucy stared at her screen with disbelief at how Natsu had the ability to say such things.

"Goodnight, Natsu," she said, never missing a chance to say his name.

"Goodnight, Lucy," he responded.

Lucy exited out of the website and the familiar beep from the chat rang. She clicked to the chat and read Natsu's message.

"I'm going eat for the first time this year," his message showed.

"I'm going to sleep for the first time this year," she replied.

"Sweet dreams," he said.

Lucy's eyes widened a bit reading the message. This was the second time he had said it. The last time he had, she had no idea what he sounded like. Being able to read the message with his voice made Lucy wonder how it would sound when he actually said it aloud. How would it sound in person?

"You too," she typed. Before her heart could beat any faster she logged off. She hung her head back on her chair and closed her eyes.

"He's too much," she said to herself.

Maybe having too much of one thing wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though.


	10. Chapter 10

**I really like how this chapter came out! I've decided I'm going to update this story once a week now. I'm honestly too busy to do it twice. **

_**NEW ONE-SHOT COMING UP SOON.**_

**It's my birthday on Saturday and I decided to give you all a reverse birthday present! It will be published the morning of August 16. And just like my other one-shots, it's going to be sad. Prepare yourselves! **

**So yeah, that's it for now. Thank you, everyone, for reading this story! Already 150 followers? What is this madness?**

**Okay, I talk too much. I hope you all enjoy chapter 10!**

* * *

Lucy tapped her fingers on her desk with anticipation the next day. It had been fifteen hours since she had spoken to Natsu but she felt it was ages ago. She wondered if Natsu was feeling the same way as her.

"Those twelve hours went by so slow," Natsu groaned as they began to voice chat.

"I had to wait fifteen!" Lucy exclaimed. "You can't complain."

"You're right. It must have been very hard for you," he joked.

"Very," she replied with a joking tone, although it was the truth.

"It doesn't feel like January," he spoke.

"It doesn't," she agreed. "I think it'll feel like January when I go back to school tomorrow."

Lucy listened as Natsu tried to suppress his laughs.

"What?" she asked with a smile wanting to jump out.

"Nothing," he responded.

"Tell me!" she urged.

"Thinking about you in a classroom made me want to laugh. That's all," he answered.

"You're weird," she frowned. She then began to think about how Natsu would look in a classroom.

"Does your school have uniforms?" she asked.

"Unfortunately. I have to wear a tie everyday," he replied unhappily.

"My school doesn't have uniforms," she used the tone Erza would use when she bragged about the lack of homework she received.

"Don't rub it in," he mumbled. "At least I don't have to go to school until Wednesday."

"When does your summer vacation start?" she questioned, secretly searching for a way to prove she's better.

"Third week of June," he answered.

"Mine is the first week of June," she grinned in fulfillment.

"You're not better than me," he said.

"Why aren't I?" she inquired with raised eyebrows.

"Because!" he retorted plainly.

"Oh, I see," she nodded with a sarcastic tone.

There was a beep which came from the girls' chat. Lucy switched tabs and read the multiple message coming from Erza. Her eyes widened at what she was reading.

"Hey, Natsu," she spoke while reading each message Erza was frantically sending. "I have to go do something. I'll talk to you later."

"Is everything okay?" he asked curiously.

"Of course," she guaranteed.

"Okay, talk to you later," he said with a small amount of disappointment. Lucy forced herself to log off.

Then switching back to the girls' chat, getting more information about the situation, Lucy typed in the room name on the website for voice chats and entered the room. She turned on her microphone as soon as the page loaded.

"Jellal said _what_?" Levy screeched.

"What did you say?" Lucy leaned into her laptop.

"He wants me to go back to public school," Erza's voice had transformed from a mature teenager to an uncertain one.

"Are you going to?" Lucy inquired.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I don't want to do homework."

"That's all you're worried about?" there was a smack on Levy's side of the call. It was the sound of a face palm.

"It was a joke," Erza said awkwardly.

"Oh," Levy muttered.

"I think you should do it," Lucy advised.

"You'll get to see Jellal everyday," Levy added as if she was dangling a piece of strawberry cake in front of Erza.

"You'll meet more people," Lucy went on.

"They have sports at school, too," Levy recalled.

"Jellal told me they have one with swords," Erza replied.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Levy asked enthusiastically. "What's the worst thing that can happen?"

"Jellal won't want to talk to me anymore?" Erza suggested.

"That won't happen," Lucy ensured. "I think he likes you."

"I hope he does," Erza whispered.

"When will you start school then?" Levy questioned.

"If I enroll tomorrow, I'll start Wednesday," she answered.

"I'm excited for you," Lucy smiled.

"I wonder what the guys will say," Levy pondered.

"Well, let's see," Erza spoke.

The girls went to the main chat with everyone and Lucy listened to Erza as she typed.

"What do you guys think of me going to public school?" her message surfaced the chat.

"You'll finally get to feel the real pain we feel," Gajeel said.

"You'll probably become student council president on the first day," Gray predicted.

"Are you going there because of Jellal?" Natsu asked.

"How does Natsu know about Jellal?" Erza asked the girls.

"He heard us talking about him last night," Levy confessed.

"He doesn't know anything," Lucy explained.

"Good," Erza sighed in relief.

"If Erza and Jellal get together, everyone except Gray will be taken," Levy realized.

"What?" Lucy cocked an eyebrow.

"You and Natsu are mostly together," Levy responded.

"We're not!" Lucy defended.

"But you're close," Erza replied.

"Knowing Natsu, he'll probably ask you to be his girlfriend on Valentine's Day," Levy groaned.

"We're not going to get together," Lucy shook her head.

"Do you like Natsu, Lucy?" Erza asked.

"Natsu likes you," Levy spoke.

"I won't believe it until I hear it," Lucy declared.

"I think Natsu needs some encouragement," Levy said.

"Stop," Lucy pleaded. "I want everything to go naturally."

"Are you sure?" Erza inquired.

"Everything will go by really slow," Levy whined.

"I want it to be slow," Lucy assured. "It'll be more enjoyable that way."

"I didn't know you were like that," Levy said with a smirk in her words.

"Wow," Erza whistled.

"I'm done here," Lucy covered her burning face. "Nice talking to you two."

"Bye!" Erza and Levy spoke together.

Lucy decided to take a breather. Why did she react this way when it came to Natsu? She wanted it to stop although she wanted to explore the feeling some more. She was still unsure on these new feelings.

She glanced at the time and thought about what Miss. Spetto's work schedule was. She couldn't remember if she got out early today or late at night. Lucy chose to trust her instincts and side with Miss. Spetto getting out late.

"Is Erza going to go to a public school?" Natsu asked when they returned to voice chatting.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "She was bored with home-schooling."

"Who gets bored at getting home-schooled?" he scoffed.

"Erza," she responded.

"I got that," he chuckled.

The two laughed together, their laughs somehow extremely contagious. The soft knock on Lucy's door made her freeze.

"Lucy, who are you talking to?" Miss. Spetto opened the door to poke her head in.

"I'm not talking to anyone, Miss. Spetto," she replied quickly, swiftly turning around in her chair. She hoped her body blocked her laptop screen.

"I could hear you laughing from the kitchen," Miss. Spetto pointed out.

"Sorry," she covered her mouth with humiliation.

"So who is it?" Miss. Spetto walked in her room.

"A friend from school," she answered.

"What's her name?" Miss. Spetto asked.

Lucy pressed her lips together to hold in her laughs.

"My name is Natsu," Natsu's voice came out from Lucy's laptop.

"Oh," Miss. Spetto lifted a hand to her mouth. She moved her hand and mouthed the word, "Boy?"

Lucy gave her a small nod.

"Yes, I'm a boy," Natsu laughed lightly.

"Excuse me, Natsu," Miss. Spetto laughed at her mistake.

Lucy assumed Miss. Spetto would leave after that but she decided to ask more questions.

"How is Lucy at school?" she questioned.

Lucy bounced her leg nervously. Could Natsu think of answers quickly enough for it not to sound suspicious?

"She talks a lot," Natsu replied. "She never lets me do my work."

"I do not!" Lucy proclaimed.

"But she's funny," he continued. "And she cheers me up."

"That's good," Miss. Spetto said with relief. "So I must take it you're excited to see her tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," he responded.

Miss. Spetto raised an eyebrow at Lucy and then grinned.

"I have to go do some things now," Miss. Spetto told Natsu, giving Lucy a wink. "Continue talking to Lucy, please!"

"Thank you," he thanked.

Lucy watched as Miss. Spetto gave her a big thumbs up and left the room.

"She's so embarrassing," Lucy sunk down in her seat.

"That made me so nervous," Natsu breathed out.

"You're a pretty good liar," she remarked with skepticism.

"I know how to make my voice sound believable, but I was moving my legs from side to side the whole time," he admitted.

"So even you get nervous," she giggled.

"Of course," he mumbled.

"Do I talk a lot?" she inquired.

"Yes," he replied.

"Do I cheer you up?"

"Yes."

"What if you're lying?" Lucy asked.

"My legs aren't moving," he responded.

"I'll believe you this time," she spoke.

Even if he was lying, it didn't matter to Lucy. It made her happy.

"I think it'd be terrible if we went to the same school," Lucy grimaced.

"I think it'd be fun," he countered.

"How?"

"It's always fun when we're together," he replied.

"Definitely," she nodded.

"I'd ask you to help me on my homework and you'd give me hints to the answers," he said.

"And I'd poke your face with my pencil when you fell asleep," she added.

"Then at lunch I would try to steal some of your food," he chuckled.

"While I tried to steal some of yours," she smiled.

"And we'd end up sharing," they laughed together.

"Why do you have to live in Acalypha?" Natsu sighed.

"Why do you have to live in Magnolia?" she sighed along with him.

"Dinner is ready," Lucy announced as a smell wafted into her room by the vents.

"Tell Miss. Spetto I would love to come over for dinner someday," he joked.

"I'll bring you the leftovers tomorrow at school," she replied, her cheeks becoming sore for the fifth time that week.

"Enjoy your dinner, Lucy," he said.

"I'll talk to you later," she logged off and closed her laptop.

If Miss. Spetto approved of Natsu then that was a good sign. Quite frankly, it eased down Lucy's nerves. However, today was not the day to tell her he actually lived on the other side of Fiore.

Lucy felt everything was finally falling into place. Now all she had to do was enjoy talking to Natsu and let all things flow naturally.

Lucy hoped Natsu wanted just the same.


	11. Chapter 11

**Was this rushed? It was rushed, wasn't it? ;u; ****I decided I need to shift gears for this fanfic and start making the _really_ interesting stuff happen. I don't plan to make this fanfic more than 20 chapters, honestly. **

**I have now started my second year at high school! I need to get used to this busy schedule. So for the moment, my updates will be a mess. Somebody help me. **

**Is anyone else nervous that FT might be ending soon? I rarely see any new animes with 25+ episodes.. **

**Okay, I hope you enjoy this chapter! At last, Lucy has become the woman she is. I don't know what I'm saying, enjoy! B)**

* * *

"Why are you yawning so much?" Natsu asked while voice chatting.

"Because of you!" Lucy accused with another yawn. "You made me sleep late last night."

"I don't pay attention to the time when we talk," he muttered.

"I'm going to make you fall asleep late one day," she declared.

"Try me," he challenged.

"I will!" she accepted, then yawned again.

Lucy had returned to school but paid no attention to the time when she spoke to Natsu. She was sleeping three hours later than her usual time. It was worth it, although she was incredibly tired.

She attempted to wake herself up by sprinting back home from school, so she could return talking to Natsu. He never left her thoughts during school. As much as she tried to push it to the back of her mind, he would always come right back to the front. Lucy didn't understand how Natsu could drift into her mind so easily.

"You have school tomorrow," Lucy recalled.

"Why did you have to remind me?" Natsu groaned.

"I just wanted to let you know," she smiled.

"I'm going to have to run home after school so I can talk to you again," he said.

"It gets tiring," she blurted out.

"Do you run from school?" he asked with interest.

"No!" she squeaked.

"Have you slipped on ice?" he teased.

"Not yet," she admitted with blazing cheeks.

His chuckle made goosebumps rise on Lucy's skin, "Now you don't have to run anymore."

"Don't slip on ice," she mumbled.

They were silent for a moment then Lucy yawned for the millionth time.

"Stop yawning already. It makes me feel bad," he ordered gently.

"Hold on," she lifted a hand up to pause him. She let out another yawn.

"Lucy, stop," he whined. Butterflies fluttered into her stomach at his tone.

"I'm done!" she announced. She straightened her back, widening her eyes.

"Finally," he sighed.

Just as the word left Natsu's mouth, another yawn escaped Lucy's mouth.

"Go to sleep," he commanded.

"I'm not tired," she replied stubbornly.

After some arguing, Natsu eventually gave in. He couldn't deny that he wanted to talk to Lucy as much as he could.

The night went on, too quick for Lucy's taste, and already she was saying goodnight to Natsu.

"I'll try to run as fast as I can tomorrow," he said.

"Be careful!" she warned.

"No promises," he responded.

Before Lucy could reply, her door creaked open.

"Lucy, it's late. Go to bed!" Miss. Spetto squinted at the bright light coming from Lucy's laptop.

"I'm going now," she replied. "Goodnight, Miss. Spetto."

Miss. Spetto gave her an uncertain look then sighed, "Goodnight, Lucy."

Lucy watched the door click shut. She turned back around to her laptop.

"Sorry," Natsu whispered.

"It's okay," she assured. "I should go now."

"Goodnight," he spoke.

"Goodnight, Natsu," she yawned.

Usually, Natsu would reply back with something that'd make Lucy laugh. This time, he immediately logged off. Lucy stared at the screen dumbfounded.

Before she turned off her laptop, a beep came from their individual chat. The only one that was still online was Natsu. She opened the chat with curiosity.

"Even though I feel bad when you yawn, they're really cute," Natsu's message said.

Lucy's cheeks heated up as soon as she processed the words.

"Thanks," she typed with embarrassed fingers.

"Go to sleep now!" he demanded.

She smiled slightly at the message then clicked the log off icon. She felt wide awake now.

"The things he makes me feel," she murmured to herself while sliding into bed.

Lucy hoped the wait for Natsu after school wouldn't be long. After thinking about the situation, she realized she hadn't been on the familiar drawing website for a while. Now, she had two things to look forward to.

* * *

Lucy turned on her laptop the next day after school. Her fingers moved automatically, even though what used to be daily was now weekly.

The spot that was specifically for her remained open as always. A content feeling went through Lucy. Watching the artists draw never failed to relax her.

She viewed all the cursors float around the white board never getting uninterested. Then, suddenly, a pile of messages started to be sent on the main chat. They were all directed to Natsu. Lucy glanced at the users online and her eyes widened.

"So you were here," Natsu messaged her on the individual chat. He ignored everyone else on the main chat.

"I lost track of time," she confessed.

"I need help on my homework," he said. "Let's voice chat."

Lucy tilted her head slightly. Already homework on the first day back to school? Despite her skepticism she still went to the website. Turning on her microphone, she asked Natsu for the problem.

"I just remembered I don't have homework," he spoke.

She couldn't help but laugh, "It amazes me how you act the same way online and in real life."

"How do I act?" he inquired.

"Weird," she replied.

"Hey," he grumbled.

Lucy thought about what to say but couldn't form the words. Someday, when she knew how to speak properly, she'd tell him.

"A lot of people want you to draw," she noticed all the messages on the main chat begging for Natsu.

"They never stop asking," he sighed.

"Draw something for them," she said.

"You want me to draw, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes," she responded simply.

"Okay," he spoke.

The last time Lucy had watched him draw was during Christmas. It felt like weeks instead of it being just one. She felt the same excitement as all the other times.

"Do you mind if I hum?" he questioned.

"Hum away," she replied with a grin.

Natsu started to hum a tune Lucy had never heard before but it soothed her. Just like all the other times, all the other artists vanished from the board. Natsu had it just for himself.

"I messed up," he said in the middle of the humming.

"Where?" she asked.

"Here," he circled his cursor around a line. The line was hardly crooked.

"It's not noticeable," she insured.

"Are you sure?" he inquired.

"Yes," she nodded with a smile.

Natsu knew he was a great artist, yet he still worried if others could notice his mistakes. Lucy couldn't wipe off her smile.

"Here come the compliments," she announced as five messages were sent each second.

"They like me too much," he spoke.

"It's hard not to," she admitted. The silence coming from Natsu's side only made her feel flustered at what she said.

"Is your dedication to Lucy again?" an artist questioned. Lucy's heart pounded as she heard Natsu typing.

"Always," he sent.

"Always?" Lucy echoed.

"Always," he replied softly.

She stared at her laptop expressionlessly. How could just one single person make her feel _this_ special? She had never felt this way before and she was tired of keeping her feelings inside. Lucy wanted to let him know. She sighed and said the first thing that came to her mind.

"I like you, Natsu," she spoke.

"W-What?" he stuttered.

"I like you," she repeated.

"That makes me really happy," he breathed out.

Lucy bit her lip anxiously. His sudden distant tone made her stomach feel odd.

"I have to go," he said with a touch of nervousness. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay," she responded, trying her best not to get offended. "See you tomorrow."

She viewed as Natsu's name disappeared from the website and voice chat. As a result, all of the people online pleaded for Natsu to come back. Lucy exited out of the website.

"It was all in my head," she laughed lightly. "He doesn't like me."

The only thing Lucy could do now was wait. Natsu was the most unpredictable person Lucy had ever met. And boy, did he sure live up to that label.


	12. Chapter 12

**Aah, I've at last started to enjoy writing this fanfic again! Wow, why didn't anyone tell me to shift gears earlier? I'm so excited to write the next chapter.**

**So we've hit 200 follows for this story. I want to cry. You are all so nice! This story had the same amount of favorites as Secret Lovers for a couple of days! I'm amazed. **

**I apologize for how short this chapter is, though. I'll make sure next chapter is much longer! We all need Nalu fluff to survive, I know. **

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :]**

* * *

"Lucy, where were you yesterday?" Levy asked as soon as Lucy's name surfaced the users online the next day.

"You should have told us you weren't going to be on," Erza chimed in.

"I had a lot of homework," Lucy lied.

As soon as Lucy left the drawing website after confessing to Natsu, she didn't go near her laptop for the rest of the night. A heavy feeling had placed itself in her chest and it only increased when she glanced at her closed laptop.

She felt depressed yet a flicker of happiness went through her when she recalled all the sweet things Natsu had said to her. She never felt so bipolar in her life.

"How was your second day of school, Erza?" Lucy typed.

"I started today," Erza corrected. "It was a lot of fun."

"Did you become student council president?" Gray joked.

"Yes," she answered.

"Are you serious?" Gajeel asked.

"I had my first meeting today," she replied.

"You're insane," Gray said.

"Have you made new friends?" Levy inquired.

"Just Jellal," Erza responded. "Everyone runs away when they see me."

"I wonder why," Lucy could hear Gray's sarcasm.

"I'm not surprised if she carries a wooden bat in her backpack," Gajeel spoke.

"Only for emergencies," Erza stated.

The group began to talk for the next few hours but Lucy's eyes kept falling to the users online. Natsu was two hours late. Lucy hoped if she stared at the user list long enough, Natsu's name would appear.

"Where's Natsu?" Gray asked.

"Do you miss him?" Gajeel countered.

"No," Gray responded instantly. "It's weird not being annoyed for two days."

"He wasn't on yesterday?" Lucy questioned.

"Nope," Levy answered.

Lucy bit her lip anxiously. He wasn't on today because of her, right?

Half an hour went by and Natsu still didn't log on. Lucy wished she had the power to see what he was doing.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Lucy sighed while typing. She needed to step away from her laptop for a bit.

She stepped to the kitchen and while entering, Miss. Spetto had just arrived from work.

"You're not talking to Natsu today?" Miss. Spetto asked.

"How did you know?" Lucy walked to the table, falling into one of the seats.

"When I come back from work, I always hear your laughing," Miss. Spetto grinned at Lucy's embarrassed expression.

"He got a lot of homework today," she bluffed.

Perhaps that was it. Natsu received too much homework and that's why he wasn't on. It was a reasonable explanation.

"I haven't seen your eyes light up this much in so long," Miss. Spetto whispered in awe as she sat down across from her at the table.

"What?" the blonde asked.

"Your eyes," Miss. Spetto pointed to her brown orbs. "The last time I saw them like that was when your mother was alive."

"Oh," Lucy said plainly.

"Do you like Natsu?" the guardian inquired softly.

"Yes," she smiled without revealing her teeth. "I do."

As the words left Lucy's mouth, she felt just as perplexed as Miss. Spetto looked. If she could say it so easily out loud, there was no mistake.

She liked a boy she had never touched, seen, or met. She never thought this was possible but here she was.

"I want to meet him!" Miss. Spetto proclaimed, interrupting her thoughts.

Lucy's eyes widened. The thought, "Me too," went through her mind but she ignored it. "Someday you'll meet him," she said instead.

"How long have you known him?" Miss. Spetto asked energetically.

"A few months," Lucy answered. She included the month that she spent watching Natsu.

"Is he cute?" Miss. Spetto continued to ask more questions.

"Y-Yes," Lucy paused. It blew her mind entirely that she didn't know what Natsu looked like. Not even a simple detail like his hair color.

"He must make you very happy," Miss. Spetto smiled.

"He makes me really happy," Lucy couldn't stop the smile from spreading.

"I'm going to go relax for a bit now. Don't go to sleep late," Miss. Spetto rose from her seat and began to walk away.

Lucy heaved herself up from the comfortable chair and returned to her room. She plopped down her seat and faced her laptop. She shook her mouse and decided not to look at the users online. She had done enough of that earlier.

She acted as if there wasn't anything wrong and spoke to her friends like any other normal day. Then a beep came from an individual chat.

"Can we video chat?" Natsu's messaged sent.

Lucy stared at the message until her eyes burned.

"How long have you been on?" she typed frantically.

"For a while now," he replied. Lucy's heart sped up each second. She felt ashamed that she never glanced at the users online at all.

"Video chat?" she typed curiously.

"Yes," he responded. "You don't have to show your face if you don't want to, but I want to show you mine."

"I can only be on for a bit," her eyes flicked to the time at the corner of her screen. Miss. Spetto was going to be falling asleep soon.

"That's alright," he assured.

"Okay," Lucy breathed in to calm down. "Let's video chat."

"Here," he sent a link along with his message.

She hovered over the link cautiously. No doubt she was going to show her face. It was only fair.

Lucy clicked the link loudly and swiftly turned on the lamp to her room while the page loaded. She patted down her hair and looked at her reflection to see if she had anything odd on her. She knew it was too late to fix anything, but she would only feel confident if she checked.

"Lucy?" Natsu's voice nervously came out of her speakers. Lucy froze.

"The microphone is already on?" she asked.

"I forgot to mention," he chuckled.

Lucy covered her face in humiliation. She hoped she wasn't subconsciously whispering to herself while checking on if she looked presentable.

"I'm going to turn on my webcam once a minute passes," he announced.

"Me too," she nodded.

"Y-You're going to show your face?" he stuttered with anxiety.

"Yes," she replied. She was just as timid as Natsu was but she found his nervousness incredibly cute.

"Okay," he said.

Lucy watched as the time slowly went by. A small smile danced on her lips.

"I'm finally going to see how you look," she whispered.

Natsu didn't reply but she didn't mind. She felt so tense she was shocked she had found her voice.

She eyed the clock and once she saw the minute pass by, she turned on her webcam with no hesitation. She heard Natsu do the same.

Lucy didn't know what to expect when the screen lit up with what was going to be Natsu's face in a couple more seconds. Her eyes moved everywhere across her screen, not knowing where to stay.

However, when Natsu's face displayed itself on Lucy's screen, her eyes stopped moving at one thing. His pink hair.


	13. Chapter 13

**Cute cute cute chapter coming your way! C: Aah, love this chapter. Even though I think I messed up Natsu's part. I'm going to ignore my pessimistic side and believe I did a good job with this chapter. **

**200 lovely people have favorited this story! This is my first time gaining 200 favorites for my stories. I feel so happy and I just want to hug you all. I'm giving you all virtual hugs, alright?**

**I hope you all like this chapter! It's September, I need to start this month with a strong chapter. Enjoy, everyone! **

* * *

His pink disheveled hair stuck out in all directions. He had slanted hazel eyes that had a blue tint to them because of his computer screen. He wore a white scarf that made his looks pop even more. This was Natsu.

"Hi, Lucy," he spoke awkwardly. Lucy couldn't help but watch his lips as they moved.

"Hi, Natsu," she replied with a similar stiff tone.

They eyed each other silently for a few moments. Both of them were speechless.

"So," they began simultaneously.

"You can go," Lucy said quickly. She noticed that she hadn't blinked at all in the last minute. She felt that if she did, she would miss something about him.

"No, you go first," he responded.

"Your hair," she lifted a finger at her screen. "Why is it pink?"

"My parents had odd colored hair," he chuckled.

She caught a glimpse of sharp pearly whites as she listened to his familiar laugh. She casually leaned against her hand so she could cover her smile.

"It looks nice," she said, although it was muffled due to her hand.

"Thanks," he gave a small smile, his hand raising to his neck in embarrassment.

"What were you going to say?" she asked.

"I can't remember," he frowned.

"You're exactly how I imagined," she sighed with a smile.

"Is that a good thing?" he inquired.

"Yes," she nodded.

"You're…" his voice trailed off.

"What?" she tilted her head.

"This is so embarrassing," he groaned.

Lucy could see his cheeks turning into a soft pink. She had the largest urge to laugh.

"Finish what you were going to say!" she demanded with curiosity.

"Can I type it to you?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head.

"I'm not used to saying these things," he apprised with protest.

"Natsu," she whined. If something was making him blush, she desperately wanted to know the reason.

"You're better than I imagined," he muttered, crossing his arms and averting his gaze.

"Oh," her eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah," he peeked at his screen slowly to see her expression.

"I forgot to ask," she recalled. "How was school?"

"Boring," he responded plainly. Then a smile formed on his face, "I haven't slipped on ice yet."

"That's good," she laughed lightly.

Even though at first Lucy felt she was talking to a complete stranger, that feeling would soon fade away after a while. Thankfully, the stranger always turned out to be the Natsu she loved.

"It's a little late in Acalypha," he noted.

"Not that much," she lied. In reality, it was late but for the moment, time didn't matter to her.

To keep Natsu from saying she should sleep, she noticed something behind him.

"Is that your drawing behind you?" she asked.

He turned around in his seat to look at what she was talking about.

"That?" he questioned, pointing his finger to the canvas at the back of the room. She nodded in response.

"It's a work in progress," he explained.

"Can I see it?" her voice dropped to a whisper. His drawings were flawless on the website, but they were probably even better outside of a computer. She wanted to know just how better.

"Sure," he heaved himself up from his seat and went to get the canvas. He had a slim body along with broad shoulders. Lucy couldn't stop staring at his back while he picked up the canvas and returned to his chair.

She felt an impulse to touch him but was greatly disappointed that she couldn't. After thinking that, her eyes widened. Natsu had started to create dirty thoughts in her mind.

"Can you see it?" he interrupted her thoughts. His head poked out from the side of the canvas.

"It's too big for the screen," she giggled. She could only see half of the drawing.

He began to scoot back, "What about now?"

"You're too far away now," she replied.

"What should I do?" he asked.

"Describe it to me?" she suggested.

"I'm an artist, not a writer," he mumbled, but described the drawing anyway.

She listened to his smooth voice as he pointed to the lines that she couldn't see. In the midst of his explanation, he paused.

"Why are you smiling?" he questioned, his own smile coming across his face.

"I am?" she eyed the corner of her screen that displayed her face. She had a large smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"Sorry," she pressed her lips together so the smile couldn't escape.

He looked back at his drawing and Lucy thought he was going to continue his description, but he didn't.

"I like your smile," he said shortly, then went back to pointing at the lines.

Lucy was grateful that he was looking at his drawing and not her. Her cheeks had heated up to a fierce red. Now that she was conscious of her feelings, any compliment coming from him made her heart speed up much faster than usual.

This reminded her of the confession yesterday. He had yet to reply back to it, but she couldn't muster up the courage to bring it up again.

"Lucy?" he waved his hand in front of him to get her attention.

"Sorry!" she jumped up in her seat. "I was just thinking."

"I know I'm not good at explaining," he sighed.

"You're not that bad," she responded.

"Do you like it?" he inquired with a hint of nervousness.

"Of course," she smiled.

"Good," he grinned. "I'm going to put it back now."

He stepped to the back of the room and placed the canvas back to its original home.

"It's dedicated to me, right?" she joked.

"Always," he called out to her, looking up from the canvas to smile at her. When it was positioned in the right angle, he strolled back to his seat.

The two spoke to each other about nothing in particular for a bit longer. Their topics jumped everywhere every few minutes. This was how it was always like, yet being able to see each other's faces while doing so brought everything to a whole new level. Lucy couldn't imagine what it would be like to talk to him in person.

"I need to go in a few minutes," Lucy forced herself to admit.

"I really need to start paying attention to the time," he grumbled.

"Me too," she agreed.

Natsu showed no signs of bringing up her confession. Perhaps this was his silent way of saying, "Thanks, but no thanks," to her feelings.

Although for some reason, Lucy couldn't accept it. She needed to hear Natsu's reply loud and clear.

"Hey, Natsu—" she said hesitantly.

"Wait," he stopped. "I need to say something."

"So do I," she responded.

"Can I go first?" he asked.

"Okay," she nodded.

"I'm really sorry for yesterday," he breathed out. "I don't know what got into me."

"What do you mean?" she questioned with a tight voice.

She convinced herself that she was prepared for his response, but now that it was coming in less than a minute, she knew she wasn't.

"I didn't think you would ever come to like me in two months. I freaked out because you did," he paused so he could think about what to say next.

"I'm a coward," he stated.

"You're not," she shook her head.

"I'm glad you think I'm not," he smiled.

There was a short silence which felt like an eternity for Lucy. Now that she knew the reasoning on why he left, there was only one more thing she wanted to know.

"I like you, Lucy," he looked straight into his webcam. "I like you a lot."

"I like you a lot, too," she whispered. Her heart beat so loud she wouldn't be surprised if Natsu could hear it in Magnolia.

"I meant to tell you that in the beginning of this, but when I saw your face, I got nervous. Now it's late and you're going to be tired tomorrow," he rambled with humiliation.

"It's okay!" she waved her hands. "I'm just happy you said it."

"I wanted to tell you face to face," he declared.

Lucy nodded in understanding with a fluttering heart. Natsu had put some thought into his confession while she blurted it out on instinct.

"What should we do now?" she asked slowly.

"Well," he looked up in thought. "What do you want to do?"

She swallowed anxiously and said the first thing that came to mind.

"I want to be with you," she confessed.

"Me too," he agreed.

"You want to be with yourself?" she joked.

"You know what I mean," he rolled his eyes. She giggled, anyway.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked softly.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend," she grinned.

"I know you would," he smirked.

Lucy was about to retort something back about how he ruined the memorable moment but she froze. She had at last witnessed Natsu's smirk.

"You smirked," she breathed out in awe.

"It's becoming a habit," he said.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting to see your smirk?" she exclaimed.

"How long?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Three months!" she responded, her voice raising.

"You're going to wake up Miss. Spetto," he warned.

"Sorry," she whispered, finding it extremely ironic that Natsu was more concerned about her sleep than Lucy was.

"Wait," he frowned slightly. "We've only known each other for two months."

"Oh," she squeaked. The secret was out.

"I sort of watched you before," she bit her lip and looked down at her keyboard to hide her face.

"Whoa," he replied with astonishment.

"I-I didn't stalk you," she assured weakly.

"I watched you, too," he spoke softly.

"What?" she raised her head swiftly. What was there to watch?

"I always wondered why you didn't talk," he explained, his eyes not meeting the screen. "I really wanted to know why, so I watched you until you did."

"How long did you watch me?" she raised her eyebrow this time.

"A month," he mumbled.

"We watched each other for a month," she stated with disbelief.

"We're both stalkers," he grinned, his teeth gleaming.

"I guess so," she returned the grin.

The time had started to hit Lucy. Her eyes closed while she let out a yawn.

As her eyes focused back on her screen, she noticed Natsu had a smile dancing across his lips. The message he sent about her yawns surfaced her in mind.

"I guess I have to let you go now," he sighed.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," she replied.

"I'll sprint after school is over," he spoke.

"Tomorrow is Friday," she realized.

"This is your chance to make me sleep late," he remarked.

"You're on!" she announced.

"Good luck," he smirked.

"Goodnight," she began to move her mouse towards the exit screen.

"Sweet dreams, Lucy," he said gently.

She gave a small wave and nearly laughed when Natsu returned it. With that, she exited out.

As soon as she logged off and solely her home screen remained, her hands shot up to her blazing face. She shut her eyes with a wide grin.

"Natsu is my boyfriend," she said aloud, loving the way it sounded. She wanted to repeat it as much as she could but she knew she had to sleep. All this felt like a dream.

She didn't know what she had gotten herself into but she was enjoying each and every second of it.


	14. Chapter 14

**So I was writing this chapter and out of nowhere Word crashed. I have never felt so frustrated in my life and now I'm late for my piano lessons. Yay! ~**

**The amount of follows/favs/reviews is insane. Thank you all so much for reading! You guys are the best.**

**Why yes, the last sentence of the chapter is a foreshadow. C:**

**Enjoy, everyone!**

* * *

Lucy gained skeptical glances throughout the day while she was at school the next day. She easily brushed them off with a wide grin. Natsu was her boyfriend and she had no intention on concealing her happiness.

Returning home from school, Lucy hummed along with her laptop as it lit up. She'd never been in this much of a happy mood before. She was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

"You're alive!" Levy's messaged exclaimed when she logged on.

"You scared us yesterday," Gray said.

"What?" Lucy typed.

"We kept trying to talk to you last night, but you didn't respond," Levy explained.

"She kept typing in capitalize letters," Gajeel added.

"Like you could hear her or something," Gray's scoff was visible in his message.

"Sorry!" Lucy apologized. "I was talking to someone."

"Was it Natsu?" Levy asked, although it was on the girls' chat. Something told Levy that this wasn't meant for everyone just yet.

"Yes," Lucy answered, already smiling.

"Tell me what you were talking about!" Levy commanded.

"It's a long story," Lucy warned.

"Then tell me through voice chat to make it faster," she responded.

"Fine," the blonde hovered her cursor over the URL bar to type in the website. After informing each other on which room name it was, they met with each other several minutes later.

"Spill the beans," Levy's voice demanded eagerly.

"Nobody where I live says that anymore," Lucy giggled.

"Well, we do!" Levy defended. "Stop stalling."

"I'm not stalling," Lucy grinned.

Lucy listened as her name was whined out repeatedly. She was having too much fun.

"I have a lot of homework," she reached over her desk to ruffle random papers.

"If you don't tell me, I'll ask Natsu," Levy threatened.

"I'll tell you!" Lucy said quickly. Knowing Natsu, he'd lie about everything just for his amusement.

"Well," she began. "We didn't voice chat."

"Did you.." Levy didn't finish her sentence.

"We video chatted," Lucy spoke. She could hear Levy's muffled squeals.

"And?" Levy asked after her final squeals.

"We talked," Lucy replied simply.

"You're killing me," Levy groaned.

"How did Gajeel ask you to be his girlfriend?" Lucy inquired.

"No way," Levy breathed out.

Lucy stayed silent as she waited for her best friend to collect her thoughts.

"Natsu asked you to be his girlfriend?" Levy shrieked so loud it made Lucy's speakers shake.

"Yes," Lucy laughed nervously.

"You said yes, right?"

"Of course," she smiled, replaying all his facial expressions she was able to see.

"I'm so happy for you two!" Levy declared.

"Thanks," Lucy couldn't fight the tugging of her cheeks.

"How does Natsu look like?" Levy asked.

"Weird," Lucy replied instantly. "He has pink hair."

"_Pink_?" Levy repeated.

"Yep," the blonde nodded. "A salmon pink."

"That actually sounds like Natsu," Levy giggled.

"It does," Lucy agreed. "How did you react when you first saw Gajeel?"

"I was really scared," Levy laughed softly. "He has piercings all over his face."

"Piercings?" Lucy echoed.

"He has over twenty," she informed.

"_Twenty_?" Lucy spoke in the same tone as Levy.

"Yep," Levy responded. "He likes them."

"Do you like them?" Lucy asked.

"A little," she replied quietly out of humiliation.

Lucy's cheeks had begun to ache after all the smiling she had done. She was happy that she wasn't the only one feeling this much joy.

"Do you know what we can do now?" Levy perked up.

"What?" Lucy tilted her head.

"We can have double video dates!" she cheered.

"Is that even a thing?" Lucy frowned.

"I'll make it a thing," Levy declared.

Although Lucy found the idea ridiculous, she agreed to it. It would probably end up being fun, anyway.

"I'll be back," Levy announced. "I'll talk to you on the chat later!"

"Okay," Lucy responded, watching the voice chat disconnect. She glanced at the clock and her heartbeat sped up immediately. Natsu was going to be logging on in just a few more minutes.

As each minute ticked by, Lucy started to become anxious. How was she supposed to act now that they were together?

Natsu logged on earlier this time. She waited for Natsu to speak with shaky fingers.

"I slipped on ice today," he sent onto the main chat.

Lucy couldn't help but snort at her screen. She watched as Gajeel and Gray picked on him with pink cheeks. It was winter but her face felt like a summer's day.

"Is Lucy here?" Natsu asked.

"She died again," Gray predicted.

"I'm alive!" Lucy typed frantically.

"What do you mean again?" Natsu questioned.

"Now that I think about it," Gray's remarked, "you died yesterday, too."

"You two both disappeared last night without a word," Gajeel spoke.

"Her and I were talking," Natsu explained.

"About what?" Gajeel inquired.

"He was probably confessing his love," Gray joked.

It was dead silent on the chat for a longer time than Lucy wanted. There was no way she was going to speak now.

"I did," Natsu said.

"You're lying," Gray stated.

"He's not," Lucy spoke.

"So you're with Natsu now?" Gajeel asked Lucy.

"Yes," she typed with a smile.

"Gray, you better find a girlfriend soon," Gajeel pressured.

"You're the only single one here now," Natsu chimed in.

"Who said I'm single?" Gray retorted.

Lucy's jaw dropped and she could feel Natsu and Gajeel's dropping as well.

"Show us a picture of her," Gajeel ordered.

"No," Gray refused.

"Gray is the possessive type," Natsu noted.

"Yeah, so what?" Gray responded.

Lucy read the messages until her lungs begged for air. When the guys were together, they were the most amusing thing.

"I'm back!" Levy popped in.

"Where's Erza?" Natsu inquired.

"She had a student council meeting," Levy replied.

"We better enjoy this moment while she's gone," Gray stated.

And on cue, Erza logged on.

"How does she do that?" Gajeel asked.

"Do what?" Erza questioned.

Before there was an outbreak, Lucy came in.

"How was the meeting?"

"It was good," she replied. Then a message came from the girls' chat.

"Jellal walked me home today," her message said.

"How romantic!" Levy virtually shouted.

"Yeah," Erza spoke shortly, out of embarrassment. Then another message came in, "What were you talking about with Natsu?"

"Natsu asked her to be his girlfriend!" Levy reported.

"Really?" Erza asked.

"Yes," Lucy typed.

"I'm happy for you," Erza announced.

"Thank you," she replied.

"Has Natsu talked to you yet?" Levy asked.

"No, actually," Lucy answered with a small frown. When he first came on, he indirectly spoke to her but that was it. "Maybe he wants me to talk to him first?"

"Yeah, do that!" Levy encouraged.

Lucy went to the individual chat with Natsu, already grinning at the past messages, and clicked the box to start typing. Though for some reason, her fingers wouldn't move.

"Why is this so hard?" she muttered to herself. Her mind was blank on what to say. She forced her fingers to move and she could only muster a simple hi.

"Hey," Natsu replied instantly, like he was anticipating the message the whole time.

"How was school?" she asked awkwardly.

"Was I in your head all day?" he ignored her question to ask his own.

Lucy read the message with wide eyes. How could he possibly know that?

"How did you know?" she typed skeptically.

"Magic," he answered slyly. Lucy could already picture his smirk; causing her stomach to fill up with butterflies.

The stiffness of the conversation slowly faded away like it always did. Lucy was grateful that Natsu somehow had the power to do it.

The more they spoke, the less satisfying it became. She wanted to hear his voice. And if she could, see him as well.

"I want to hear your voice again," Lucy sent before she backed out of it.

"I want to see your face again," he responded.

She read the message over and over until she was convinced that he had actually said it.

"Let's video chat?" she suggested.

"Okay," he replied.

They didn't exchange links because there was no need. Neither of them could forget the link that brought them together.

Lucy didn't think to fix her hair so when she remembered, it was too late. The call was already connected.

"Hi," Natsu gave a small smile.

The thoughts of her hair were thrown out the window when she saw what Natsu was wearing.

"Your clothes," she observed with wide eyes.

He glanced down with a puzzled look and the size of his eyes soon matched hers.

"I'm so used to just coming on the computer I forgot to change," he mumbled at his school uniform.

"The tie looks nice," she complimented with a grin.

"I don't know how to tie it, so I hide it under my scarf," he revealed, lifting his white scarf up to show a tangled mess.

Just the sight made Lucy burst out laughing. When she looked back at her screen, Natsu was grinning.

"I'll go change," he rose from his seat.

"Okay," she nodded, watching his slim body walk away from the screen.

"No peeking!" he called out from the back of the room. At the edge of the screen, she saw Natsu holding up his index finger.

"I'm not!" she exclaimed, turning away from the screen.

She heard Natsu's movements and Lucy rotated her chair slightly so she could sneak a glance at Natsu. She couldn't fight her curious side.

There was only a lean arm visible at the side of the screen. Disappointment flooded through her.

"Are you looking?" he asked.

"N-No!" she squeaked, jolting in her seat. She turned back in her chair and looked down at her hands.

"You're bad at lying," he smirked when he returned with normal clothes.

"I didn't look!" she lied with a pout.

"Okay, I believe you," he nodded.

He believed her so easily, Lucy felt bad. She sighed.

"I looked," she confessed.

"I know you did," he grinned.

Before she could explain, there was a knocking on her door. She didn't have any time to react. Miss. Spetto opened the door and stuck her head in.

"Are you talking to Natsu?" she asked with a grin.

She nodded, hoping she didn't hear the conversation that was going on. Miss. Spetto opened the door so she could step in.

"Oh, you're talking to him face to face," she raised a hand to her mouth.

"Hi, Miss. Spetto," Natsu spoke. Lucy turned back to her laptop to see Natsu waving.

"Goodness," Miss. Spetto fanned herself. "I'm in my work clothes right now! How embarrassing!"

"You look fine," Lucy assured, wanting to calm down her guardian.

Miss. Spetto stretched her neck to look at Natsu over Lucy's shoulder. A soft giggle escaped her lips.

"He's handsome," she whispered to Lucy.

Lucy's eyes widened instantly and she mentally begged Miss. Spetto to leave. Natsu listening and watching this conversation was incredibly humiliating.

"I came here to ask if you wanted some coffee," Miss. Spetto recalled.

"We ran out, didn't we?" Lucy asked.

"I got more today," Miss. Spetto beamed.

"Thank you," Lucy smiled. "I'll have some."

Miss. Spetto took another glance at Natsu and paused. She returned to fanning herself with her hand.

"I was just about to ask if Natsu wanted some!" she laughed at her mistake.

"I have some here," he said.

"Peppermint?" Lucy spun around to look at him.

"Of course," he replied with a grin.

Miss. Spetto's presence had already begun to slip Lucy's mind, but once she heard giggling she turned to her guardian.

"I'll go now!" Miss. Spetto announced after getting stared at. Before she shut the door, she gave Lucy a thumbs up.

"Why is she so embarrassing?" Lucy groaned.

"I like her," Natsu stated.

"She's a good person," she smiled at her guardian. She did embarrass her, but Lucy was always her first priority.

"I want coffee now," he whined.

"Let's go get some," she spoke.

"Last one back is a rotten egg!" he declared childishly, surging up from his seat and sprinting out of his room.

Lucy stared at Natsu's empty room until she heard the ding of her microwave. She grinned as she dashed out of her room to get her cup. There was no way Natsu was going to get back before her.

"Thank you!" Lucy swiftly seized the cup from the counter and returned to her room. Careful not to spill the hot liquid, she walked a bit slower this time.

She shut the door with her back and she heard footsteps coming from her laptop while it clicked shut.

"No way!" Lucy exclaimed, rushing to her seat.

"I was here first!" they both shouted simultaneously as they sat down.

"No, I was," they said together again.

Lucy took a deep breath and Natsu did the same movements. He was mocking her.

"How did you warm up your coffee so fast?" she asked while he took small sips.

"I have a special microwave," he replied.

Lucy frowned. Perhaps Magnolia had better microwaves than Acalypha.

"Does your cup have a dragon on it?" she scrutinized at his cup.

"I really like dragons," he admitted. He held the cup to the webcam and spun it around so she could see all sides.

"You're amazing at drawing them," she complimented.

Natsu froze at her words but not long enough for Lucy to notice.

"Thanks," he muttered, having his head withdrawn to cover his face.

The night rolled on with light-hearted conversations. The couple acted just as they did before and Lucy didn't mind one bit. She would probably be more flustered than usual if it wasn't that way.

"Hey, everyone," Levy sent a message on the main chat.

"Yes?" Erza asked.

"We should all video chat tomorrow," she suggested. "It's been three months already. It's about time."

Lucy was about to accept the offer but her fingers paused when Natsu spoke.

"Now everyone is going to see your face," he complained.

"I see Gray isn't the only possessive one out of our group," she teased. She looked at Natsu to see him pouting. Lucy didn't think he couldn't get any more adorable.

Everyone ended up accepting Levy's invitation. Although Lucy had to beg Natsu until he eventually accepted.

"See you all tomorrow! Literally," Levy stated then logged off.

"She's not the best at jokes," Gajeel told everyone, his name disappearing seconds later.

Erza and Gray sent short goodbyes and then there were two.

"Do you want to stay up all night tomorrow?" he offered in the midst of their conversation.

"I will make you stay up late!" she declared, using that answer as her yes.

"We'll see," he replied. He then leaned back in his chair, "I think I can get used to this."

"What?" she raised an eyebrow at his nonchalant position.

"Seeing you everyday," he answered simply.

"Me too. I don't think I'll ever get tired looking at your hair," she pointed at her screen.

"What about me?" he grumbled.

Lucy immediately became tongue-tied. How did compliments for boyfriends work again?

"You're nice to look at," she stammered.

"Is that a compliment?" he smirked at the flustered blonde.

Lucy pouted in response, refusing to look at Natsu's teasing face.

They talked for a while longer and once a yawn left Lucy's lips, Natsu took that as their signal.

"I'll let you sleep now," he said.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she replied.

"Literally," he grinned, stealing Levy's joke.

"Literally," she repeated with a grin. She loved her best friend but the joke was awful.

"Goodnight, Lucy," he spoke gently. The way he said her name made Lucy's heart jump.

"If your face becomes any redder, mine will, too," he mumbled, averting his gaze from the screen.

"Is it that obvious?" she patted her blazing cheeks.

"It's cute," he coughed after the sentence. This caused Lucy's cheeks to heat up more.

"Goodnight, Natsu," she waved. Once he returned the wave, she forced herself to log off. She had to rest up for the all nighter coming the next day.

She felt as if she had met Natsu three times. She met him on the website, voice chat, and video chat. There was just one more box, or place, left to check and Lucy wanted to mark it as quick as possible.

"I should start saving up," she spoke as she shut off her laptop.

Saving up and waiting was the only thing left to do now.


	15. Chapter 15

**If you have questions about this chapter, please don't hesitate to ask! I'm sadly enough too lazy to answer questions on my A/N's at the moment. C:**

**I really loved writing this chapter even though it's probably a mess. I was extremely limited on time this time and I need to update on Tuesdays! It's a must.**

**I want to hug all of you guys that have been reading my story. The emails I get from everyone always make my day. Whoever is reading this, I love you.**

**I hope you enjoy the much cute Nalu in this chapter! It's so full of fluff, it's gross. Enjoy chapter 15, everyone. :3**

* * *

Tons of voices surrounded Lucy as she scanned the crowd. There was only one voice she yearned to hear.

She heard a voice, although it sounded distant, but her legs sprinted to it. She was holding something that weighed her down, she was forced to drag it across the floor. She didn't mind; she just wanted to find the voice. Finding the owner, she leaped into their arms.

He was warm. He had a scent Lucy had never smelled before. She could feel his breaths right beside her ear and the rapid pace of his heartbeat.

"Finally," he whispered into her ear.

"That tickles," she giggled, pulling away to look at his face.

"Lucy," he said.

"What?" she asked, frowning at how his voice became far away.

"Open your eyes," he spoke softly.

Lucy did what he ordered, but regretted it immediately. She had opened her eyes to her white ceiling.

"What happened?" she yawned out to herself, already the dream fading away from her mind.

She glanced at the clock beside her bed and groaned. It was exactly twelve in the afternoon.

Heaving herself up from her bed, she thought back to the dream. Her heart was pounding as fast as possible and her cheeks were sore. Was she smiling while asleep?

After thinking about it for half an hour, she gave up. Hopefully, the dream would come back to her mind later in the day.

She ate her breakfast, or lunch, left by Miss. Spetto in a hurry. Since it was the weekend, no doubt everyone was online already.

"Are you excited to see my face today?" Levy asked as Lucy logged on.

"Definitely," Lucy typed. She was beyond thrilled to finally be able to see everyone.

"Levy told me Gajeel has many piercings," Erza stated.

"I do. Deal with it," Gajeel replied bluntly.

"Natsu has pink hair," Lucy revealed, eager to see everyone's reactions.

"_Pink_?" everyone repeated, besides Levy and Natsu.

"I have the best hair out of everyone," Natsu said simply.

"Yeah, right," Gray retorted. "I have the best body out of everyone."

"Levy, tell them how much better I am than them," Gajeel ordered.

"I'm not in this!" Levy proclaimed.

"Lucy, tell them how much better I am than Gajeel!" Natsu demanded.

"I'm not in this either," Lucy sided along with Levy.

"We all know I'm the best," Erza joined the argument.

Lucy watched as the chat flooded with messages by everyone, arguing that they were the best.

In the midst of the argument, she noticed Natsu had stopped messaging. As soon as she noticed, a message came from him.

"I want to video chat with you before everyone else," he said.

"Me too," she replied instantly, ignoring her blazing cheeks. She had made sure to fix her hair before she logged on just in case, so she was all set.

"Hey there," Natsu waved as they turned on their webcams.

Lucy returned the wave but her voice caught in her throat. Natsu's voice triggered all the memories of her dream.

"Are you okay?" he asked curiously as he watched Lucy's face turn scarlet.

"Y-You were in my dream last night," she spoke slowly.

"What happened in the dream?" he inquired.

"I can't tell you," she shook her head.

"Why not? I want to know," he whined.

"It's too embarrassing!" she cried, putting her hands to her face.

"What if I said you were in my dream, too?" he grabbed her attention.

"What happened in your dream?" she peeked in between her fingers.

"I'll tell you after you tell me," he responded with a smirk.

Lucy pouted but ended up telling him.

"We met," she informed nervously.

"Where did we meet?" he questioned.

"I think we were at an airport," she replied, her eyebrows furrowing in thought. "We hugged, too."

She viewed Natsu as he thought about her dream. She couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"What was your dream about?" she asked.

"Oh," he began to smile sheepishly. "I said that so you would tell me."

"Of course," she scoffed.

"You're lucky," he remarked.

"How?" she tilted her head.

"You know what it feels like to hug me," he replied with a small pout.

"But it was only a dream," she reminded.

"It felt real, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she averted her gaze in humiliation.

"I want to know what it feels like to hug you," he mumbled.

"S-Someday," she stuttered. "We'll both know how it feels."

"I want to hug you so much," he rubbed his hands across his face so his voice was muffled. Just that small statement made Lucy need a fan because of how hot her face had turned.

He was just too much.

"It's time, everyone!" Levy announced a couple of hours later. She sent a link to the video chat in her next message.

Once everyone had joined the room, anxiety started to form in Lucy's emotions. Levy used a different website than Natsu, so she didn't know how it worked just yet.

"Hi, guys," Levy's voice came out of Lucy's speakers.

"Oh, our microphones are already on," Gray realized, speaking for everyone else.

"Good thing I just finished singing," Erza stated.

"Somebody turn on their webcam already," Gajeel ordered gruffly.

"Why don't you, then?" Natsu challenged.

"I will," he responded, a small square with his name on the top displaying on the screen. Lucy instantly raised her hand to her mouth to not laugh.

Gajeel had charcoal colored hair, flying in all directions. He had terrorizing eyes, that seemed to look crimson from Lucy's screen, but it was most likely her imagination. He looked like he had double the piercings Levy said he had.

"N-Nice piercings," Natsu complimented nervously.

"Someone show their face now," Gajeel commanded, all his piercings moving around his face.

It was silent then an eruption of deep laughter sounded throughout the chat. It was most definitely Gray's.

"You have so much metal on your face!" he roared.

"Shut it," Gajeel barked.

After Gray's laughter died down, a square with his name popped up next.

"That was hilarious," Gray chuckled, wiping a tear out of his eye.

Gray looked much more normal than Gajeel. He had raven hair with a pair of dark blue eyes. He was as normal as a boy could get but he was missing something.

"Gray, your shirt," Erza's voice pointed out.

"What about it?" he looked down curiously. As soon as he realized his chest was bare, his neck snapped up to the camera with wide eyes.

"I swear I had a shirt on a couple of seconds ago!" he exclaimed. He rose from his chair and walked out of the camera's view.

"I didn't need to see that," Levy whined while Gray's chest was the only thing in the square for several seconds.

"I guess I'll go next!" she declared. Her square surfacing next.

"You're so cute!" Lucy blurted out as she viewed the bluenette. Finding out that her best friend had blue hair didn't surprise her as much as it should had.

"Only I can say that," Gajeel frowned.

"Thanks, Lucy," Levy grinned. "You go next!"

"Okay," Lucy breathed out. She had just shown her face to Natsu, but since she was with everyone else, she felt tense. She was clueless at why her emotions were all over the place.

"Hi," she said stiffly as her webcam turned on.

"You're really pretty!" Levy pointed at her screen in shock.

"I'm intimidated by you, Lucy," Erza laughed slightly.

"Thanks," she replied shyly.

"Only I can look at her," Natsu mimicked Gajeel, although he was serious. "My turn."

"I'm back," Gray returned as Natsu revealed his face. As soon as Gray looked up at the screen he went straight into a fit of laughter.

"First Gajeel's face," Gray coughed out. "And now your hair!"

"At least I have a shirt on," Natsu responded simply.

"I just put another one on," Gray retorted, glancing down at his already bare chest.

"Go get another one," Erza dictated.

"How does this happen?" Gray groaned, leaving the room again to find another shirt.

"Erza, time for you to go!" Levy proclaimed.

"Best one for last," she replied, her face showing up already with a large smile.

She had flaming hair that flowed down to what seemed like the floor, since it cut off in the middle of the screen.

"You look so old," everyone said together.

"What did you say?" she tilted her head to the side, her brown eyes ordering us to compliment her.

"You look good!" Natsu corrected himself.

"You look great!" Levy added.

"Amazing!" Lucy chimed in.

"Teach me how to do that," Gajeel's jaw had fallen in awe.

"Do what?" Erza inquired.

"Do that thing with your eyes," he responded.

"Gajeel, you don't need to learn that," Levy shook her head.

Gray returned shortly, this time with a sweater on, and after observing Erza he sighed, "So this is us."

"Yep," Natsu nodded.

There was a pause and Lucy noticed something.

"We all have different accents," she noted.

"I don't hear it," Levy replied with a puzzled look.

"Say coffee," Natsu said, making Lucy do a small smile.

"Coffee," everyone spoke, each voice stretching out the beginning or end of the word.

"See," Lucy presented.

"That's so weird!" Levy exclaimed.

They group began to say various words out loud to see how much different everyone sounded. Everyone thought it was hysterical at how there were numerous ways just to say a simple word like, 'bag."

"Gray, your sweater is gone," Erza remarked after a few hours.

"I'm not going to do anything about it," he sighed in defeat.

"Gajeel, can you take off all your piercings?" Natsu randomly suggested.

"No," he replied plainly.

"You should do it," Lucy agreed.

"I want to see how long it takes for you to do it," Erza sided with them.

"Go, Gajeel!" Levy cheered.

"Fine," he closed his eyes with irritation. "Someone time me."

"On it," Gray announced. "Go."

Everyone watched Gajeel begin to pluck off each piercing one by one.

"That looks painful," Lucy winced as she peeked at Gajeel remove his eyebrow piercings.

The second Gajeel was piercing-less, all the voices came at once.

"No."

"What is that?"

"Put those back on."

"You look funny."

"Who are you?"

"This is why I didn't want to do it!" Gajeel howled, looking off to the side towards his mirror, placing all the piercings back.

Lucy had no idea where the time had went. One minute the sun was in the middle of the sky, and the next the moon had taken its place.

In the middle of the chat, there was a loud pounding noise coming from Gray's side of the call.

"I have to go," Gray turned his head to the side of his room to glance at the door. Everyone began to say goodbye, but he didn't have time to log off.

"Gray!" a female voice sang, barging into his room.

Everyone watched as a light bluenette ran into Gray's arms. Lucy felt like she was intruding on something private, but she couldn't tear her eyes away.

"Who is Gray talking to?" the female asked, eying his computer screen. "Who is that girl?"

"She's a friend," he responded.

"Why does that boy have strange pink hair?" she pointed at the screen.

"I can hear you," Natsu muttered.

"Juvia, please get out," Gray pleaded.

"Is Gray cheating on Juvia?" she interrogated.

"No!" he assured.

"You better get off before your girl gets mad," Gajeel snorted.

"Shut up, I will," Gray retorted. "See you guys later."

"Bye," everyone said in unison.

The last thing visible was Juvia crossing her arms with a pout and Gray leaning towards her.

"Well, he wasn't lying about having a girlfriend," Gajeel commented.

"Now all we need to see is Jellal," Levy said.

"Levy," Lucy spoke with a tight voice. Jellal was a subject solely meant for the girls.

"It's okay," Erza replied. "I don't mind that everyone knows."

"Knows what?" Natsu asked.

"I have a boyfriend," Erza revealed.

"He's your _boyfriend_ now?" Levy spat out in shock.

"I forgot to mention," she smiled. "He confessed to me this morning."

"You just got a boyfriend and you're here with us?" Gajeel inquired.

"What kind of guy does that?" Natsu frowned.

"Well—"

"Go meet him now," Natsu commanded.

"What?" Erza's eyes widened.

"He's probably thinking of you like crazy right now," Levy remarked.

"And you are, too," Lucy chimed in.

"Y-Yeah," Erza responded to them slowly.

"Go!" everyone shouted.

"O-Okay," she sighed, her eyes filled with worry.

"Good luck!" Levy gave her a thumbs up.

"Thanks," her voice came out, the square already melting away.

It was silent for a few moments then Levy quietly suggested, "Should we separate for the night?"

"Yes," Gajeel answered instantly.

"I agree," Natsu nodded.

"Have fun with Gajeel, Levy," Lucy winked.

"Have fun with Natsu," Levy replied with her own wink.

"Last one to our video chat loses!" Natsu announced, his square already gone.

"I can't believe him," Lucy laughed. "See you, guys!"

She frantically typed the website to her video chat with Natsu and their voices came at the same time.

"I was here first!" they declared.

"I typed the website too fast my computer froze," Natsu admitted.

"Slow and steady always wins the race," she reminded, although she wasn't slow and steady at all.

"Let's see if you can make me sleep late now," he smirked.

"I'm ready," she replied with confidence.

They decided to play games for the rest of the night until one of them surrendered and fell asleep. Lucy vowed she wasn't going to sleep first this time.

"Are you tired yet?" she asked with her own smirk once it was near sunrise.

"I go to sleep at this time for school," he scoffed.

"This isn't fair," she whined slightly. "I have a two hour disadvantage."

"Are you giving up?" he inquired.

"No!" she shook her head.

"Just tell me when," he grinned at her.

"I can see the sun already," Lucy rotated her chair to her window.

"Show me," he said.

"Okay," she smiled, regaining the memories of when she took a picture of the sunrise for him that night. As a result of taking the picture at an awkward stance, her blonde hair showed up in the picture.

She reached over to her laptop and picked it up.

"This is going to be awkward," she warned, opening her light-colored curtains.

"Can you see it?" she asked as she had the laptop screen faced away from her.

"Move to the right a little," he answered. She scooted to the right then said, "Go back to the left."

"Are you making me do this on purpose?" she leaned over to look at her screen.

"Maybe," he chuckled.

"You have to show me your sunrise," Lucy ordered, placing the laptop back on her desk.

"Let's hope you're awake to see it," he teased.

"I will be," she confirmed.

Lucy stuck true to her word. The early birds were already gently crooning to each other and she heard the buzz of an engine coming from a car by the time Natsu's sunrise arrived.

"Good thing my webcam is wireless," he said with a satisfied tone, reaching over to his camera.

"You have it easy," she mumbled, envious how her webcam was connected to her laptop.

"Here you go," he presented.

Lucy's jaw dropped at the view.

Natsu's apartment window was located high in the sky and surrounded by buildings. She could see the microscopic sized cars going across the streets into the labyrinth of buildings. He had the perfect view of the sunrise as it just peaked out of the horizon. She ached to visit Magnolia.

"I want to go to Magnolia," she stated.

"You're welcome any time," he joked, setting the webcam back to its original position.

"Really?" she asked with complete seriousness.

"If you want to come," he stammered, "you can come."

"Thanks for the invitation," she giggled.

"If you do come, I'll be your tour guide," he beamed.

"What will you show me?" she asked curiously.

"The streets I run on so I can come talk to you," he replied. "The place where I buy my peppermint coffee."

"And your school," she added.

"I'll show you everything," he said, as if it was a promise.

"Okay," she responded softly with a smile.

At that moment, Lucy wanted to hop on a plane that would take her straight to Magnolia. Knowing that there was no way that would happen any time soon made her feel lonely.

"What if one day our computers stop working?" she asked.

"Don't say that," he shook his head.

"But if it did happen," she pressed.

"Then we'd talk to each other on our phones," he answered.

"I don't have your number," she recalled.

"You will now," he smirked.

"You set that up, didn't you?" she grinned.

Natsu did nothing but chuckle to himself. After exchanging numbers, Natsu sent her a text.

"Hi, Lucy," the text said.

"Hi, Natsu," she replied, stifling a laugh as she listened to Natsu text back on the video chat.

"I'm going to text you a lot now," he half-warned, half-informed.

"Don't get in trouble at school for texting," she said sternly.

"I sit in the back, anyway," he shrugged.

"You're not tired yet?" she asked.

"A little," he yawned. This was the first time Lucy had ever seen him yawn. She had never seen something so cute in her life.

"Natsu, it's ten in the morning," she gaped at the time.

"It's eight in the morning," he corrected.

"I have a headache from staring at the screen all day," she sighed.

"Are you surrendering?" he inquired.

She was about to respond but she paused, "We can still talk on the phone, right?"

"As long as you don't fall asleep," he spoke.

"Let's talk on the phone?" she proposed.

"Hold on," he said, holding his phone to his ear.

Lucy jumped slightly at the soft tune of her phone and almost wanted to laugh at seeing Natsu's name as the caller ID.

"Hello?" she answered the phone, grinning at her screen. She could hear her voice on the other end of the call from Natsu's computer.

"I want to make sure you don't fall asleep in between turning off your laptop and calling me," he explained simply.

"I'm going to get off," she waved at her laptop.

"You were going to say bye, weren't you?" he smirked.

"Be quiet," she muttered, shutting down her laptop.

She raised herself from her chair and fell into her warm covers. It was enough to lure her to sleep but she ignored the temptation.

"We're going to be so tired tomorrow," Lucy groaned into her pillow.

She waited for Natsu to reply but not there was not one sound.

"Natsu?" she said his name.

No reply.

"You fell asleep," she laughed in disbelief. Once she said the sentence that's when she realized, "You fell asleep!"

"I won," she cheered quietly.

After having a small celebration, she began to grow tired of the silence. If Natsu was asleep, she wanted to be, too.

"Goodnight, Natsu," she said gently. She was about to hang up but there was something that desperately wanted to escape her lips.

"You're really cute," she whispered. She had the largest urge to giggle in happiness but she pressed her lips together.

She hung up seconds later and as if a genie had snapped their fingers, she fell asleep.

She slept for a total of five hours due to Miss. Spetto's knocks on her door. She had never felt so tired in her life, but she didn't regret staying up with Natsu.

Groggily checking her phone, she noticed she had a received a text message around the time she fell asleep. It was from Natsu.

"You're really cute, too. Sweet dreams," the text displayed.

Even if Lucy had only five hours of sleep and felt the same emotions as a dead person, the text message made her flush a bright pink and accelerate her heartbeat.

Natsu could do all sorts of things to Lucy; one of them being that he could revive her senses in six simple words.


	16. Chapter 16

**I made this account exactly 6 months ago.. Oh, man. Seriously, the only thing I was thinking while making this account was, "Natsu and Lucy are cute."**

**Time flies and it's a scary thing.**

**Well, anyway, this chapter is just weird. I planned it to be a filler but it ended up being about Valentine's Day. **

**I hope you all enjoy chapter 16! Things are starting to get serious, though. **

**I think Chapter 18 is where the crazy stuff is going to start happening. ****Thank you, CelestialTitania, for giving me ideas for upcoming chapters! :3**

**Happy Valentine's Day in September, guys. :***

* * *

There were only two plain things Lucy did for the next few weeks; focus on school and speak to her best friends.

She didn't mind her easy-going routine which was to get up, go to school, get home, and talk to her friends. She found it extremely relaxing and enjoyed doing it every day.

Phone calls at night with Natsu became a regular thing. Lucy would lay in bed each night, leaning her ear against her phone, and talk to him until her eyes became heavy.

Even after the call, as soon as Lucy woke up for school, she'd quickly text Natsu a short, "Good morning."

When Lucy entered her second class of the day, a familiar buzz would vibrate in her pocket. She knew she was breaking school rules by using her phone, but she checked it anyhow.

A smile always tugged across her lips when she read Natsu's text. He sent the same two words she had sent, but when it came from him it just sounded sweet like candy.

Throughout the day, Lucy would receive curious glances by everyone to find out what she was laughing at. Nobody could figure it out since from everyone's point of view she was merely laughing at the air.

In reality, Natsu had made another joke of his teacher's wig sliding off his head. Her laughter increased immensely after he started sending pictures. By then, everyone was aching to know why the usual quiet blonde was giggling her head off in the middle of class.

"Lucy, what are you laughing at?" a girl whispered beside her.

"Nothing," Lucy replied with a grin. "I just remembered something."

"You've remembered a lot of stuff lately," someone claimed with skeptical eyes.

Lucy ended up not hearing them as she resumed biting her lip to contain her laughs.

This was how her life was for the next several weeks and she didn't have one single complaint.

* * *

"Guess what tomorrow is!" Levy asked on the chat.

"Thursday," Natsu responded.

"No," Levy said.

"Valentine's Day, stupid," Gray spoke.

"That's right!" Levy replied.

"Are Levy and Gajeel doing anything tomorrow?" Erza inquired.

"That's none of your business," Gajeel retorted.

"Then what about Natsu and Lucy?" Erza went to her next question.

Lucy stared at her screen with a face palm. The romantic holiday had completely slipped her mind. If she forgot then that must mean Natsu forgot, too, right?

"I forgot it was Valentine's Day," he admitted.

"Me, too," Lucy agreed.

"You two are terrible," Gray stated.

"What kind of boyfriend forgets the most romantic day of the year?" Levy asked.

"Same goes for girlfriend," Gajeel remarked.

"What is Erza doing with Jellal tomorrow?" Lucy questioned.

"We're going out," Erza answered.

"I'm jealous," Levy complained.

Lucy watched as messages revolving around Valentine's Day came in one by one.

Sure, she was happy she had a boyfriend during the day, but she didn't expect anything was going to happen.

What could Natsu possibly do when he lived 2500 miles away?

* * *

"Are you excited to see Natsu today?" Miss. Spetto asked the next morning.

"Of course," Lucy responded with warm cheeks, sipping her peppermint coffee.

Miss. Spetto could read Lucy like an open book. She could tell Natsu and Lucy had become a couple after a few weeks.

"Are you going to give him chocolate?" her guardian leaned in with interest.

"Miss. Spetto," Lucy whined.

"Sorry, sorry!" she waved her hands. "Is he taking you out anywhere?"

"We're taking things slow," Lucy made an excuse.

"What?" Miss. Spetto blurted out with surprise. Then she added hastily, "That's what you should be doing."

Lucy nodded then rose from her chair. "See you later," she waved.

"Have a happy Valentine's day with Natsu!" Miss. Spetto returned the wave.

The blonde stepped out of her home and headed to her school with quick steps. She could already feel the love in the air as she entered school grounds.

She couldn't help but wonder if Natsu felt just as alone as she felt.

The loneliness only increased as the usual texts from Natsu didn't arrive. Lucy constantly checked her phone throughout her second class to see if he had texted her yet.

Switching classes had started to become a nightmare. Lucy was forced to watch couples be lovey-dovey and munch on chocolate together in each hallway she walked in. She kept her thoughts to herself, since she didn't want to ruin anyone's day.

Halfway into her third class, Lucy couldn't take it anymore. She slid out her phone and started to text Natsu. She was only halfway into her text when her phone vibrated. She frantically opened the text, relieved that it was from Natsu.

"I love your eyes," Natsu's text said.

Lucy's eyes widened as she read the text several times.

"Natsu, where have you been?" Lucy texted back, flattered by the compliment, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

Natsu didn't reply back. After exactly an hour, her phone vibrated again with another message by him.

"I love your yawn."

Lucy's face lit up as red as the apple she was eating. With the amount of texts she sent him with no reply, she chose to wait and see if he would say anything more. Another hour passed and she received another message.

"I love your smile."

With that third text, Lucy started to catch on. This was what Natsu could do. After that, she anticipated the texts. Each time an hour went by, her phone would shake in her pocket.

"I love your laugh," he said in her fifth class.

"I love your voice," he said in her sixth class.

Lucy had lost track on how many times her cheeks blossomed a deep shade of crimson. She sat in her seat in her seventh class, her heart pumping with euphoria.

She forbade herself to feel let down when Natsu didn't text her in her last class of the day. She wasn't surprised that he forgot. She was happy with even just the first compliment.

Lucy felt a hint of relief once she left school. Viewing everyone sharing chocolates, along with something a bit more intimate, started to be bothersome. She wanted to leave the love fest as soon as possible.

She walked back to her home, pausing at several crosswalks for the red light to change. It was unusual for there to be traffic on her walk home, but today it was the most she had ever seen in Acalypha.

The sound of honking horns, squealing tires, and footsteps surrounded Lucy. She was glad her phone was on vibrate, because if it was on sound, she'd definitely wouldn't have heard it.

A small smile was painted onto her face as she read it was from Natsu. She excitedly opened it. Her footsteps came to an abrupt stop as she read his text.

"And I love you."

All the noise that screamed into Lucy's ears was replaced by the sound of her throbbing heartbeat.

"Am I dreaming?" she whispered to herself, reading the text again and again.

She pinched herself until she was positive this was not a dream.

Lucy was in a daze as she returned home. She didn't bother to find something to eat. She fell into her chair in her room and read Natsu's texts, never getting tired of them.

She knew nobody was going to be online due to everyone being with their significant other. Still, Lucy turned on her laptop out of habit. Yet she went right back to reading his texts.

She nearly dropped her phone when she felt that Natsu had texted. She hadn't realized that she had read his texts for over an hour.

"Let's video chat," he said.

The blonde took a couple of deep breaths then went to the website. Natsu was already on, and Lucy could tell he had just come home, since he was still in his school uniform.

"Hi," Natsu spoke, his breathing a little heavier than normal.

"Hi," Lucy replied softly.

"Did you read my texts?" he asked.

She nodded. She knew if she tried to speak, her voice would show how nervous she was.

"That's good," he smiled.

There was not a single sound as the two simply stared at each other.

"I love your smile," Lucy breathed out.

She didn't leave Natsu any time to say anything.

"And your eyes," she continued. "Your yawns, your smile, your laugh, your voice," she spoke in a rush.

"Lu—"

"And you," she interrupted. "I love you."

She watched as Natsu's eyes slightly widened.

"I love you, too," his voice floated out of Lucy's speakers smoothly. Like chocolate.

"My heart is going to explode," Lucy confessed breathlessly.

"Mine, too," he replied, lifting his scarf up to his nose.

It was quiet then Lucy broke the silence.

"What are you laughing at?" Natsu asked.

"Nothing," she giggled. "I just felt like laughing."

"You're weird," he gave her a strange look.

Lucy grinned, her chest acting as if the only emotion she can feel was happiness.

Yes, this was definitely a happy Valentine's Day.

Lucy felt content that she had finally acknowledged her love for Natsu. That was one thing she was able to lift off her chest, but she realized there was something else she wanted to confess.

"Hey, Natsu," she spoke up.

"What?" he rose an eyebrow.

"I think I'm going to get a job," she admitted slowly.

"For what?" he questioned.

Lucy took a deep breath, exhaling anxiously. She might as well just get it all over with.

"To save up money. I want to meet you."


	17. Chapter 17

**It's the last day of September.. I find it so strange that we only have three months left of 2014. But I'm soso excited for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. c':**

**Due to a lovely friend talking about my story on Tumblr, this story has gotten a lot more followers. Hello, new readers! I'm already in love with you all, okay. Thank you, everyone, for reading this story.**

**Unfortunately, this is a filler chapter and I hate it. Filler chapters make me mad but they're needed to not make the story rushed. I'll never forget to add a dash of Nalu in each chapter, though. ;3**

**Again, thank you so much for sticking with this story. I'm so happy. ****(/∇＼*)**

**Here's chapter 17!**

* * *

Lucy had never felt so jittery in her life as she tied the strings of her brand new apron behind her back. Making sure the knot was tight enough, she tiptoed to the mirror to study herself in her work uniform.

She wore a simple white blouse with a black ribbon hanging off the collar. The blouse was neatly tucked inside a coal colored skirt that swayed just above her knees. On top of that, a chestnut apron wrapped itself around her slim body.

Lucy felt eager, weary, and even a little nauseous. She had no idea what to expect on her first day.

Finding the job wasn't easy. The first step was to convince Natsu.

"You don't have to get a job for me," he spoke.

"I want to do this," Lucy replied.

"I can buy the plane ticket for you," he attempted to persuade.

"No," she argued stubbornly. "I'm going to pay for my own ticket."

"We won't get to talk to each other as much if you get a job," he stated.

"It'll be worth it in the end," she assured.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Nothing is going to stop you, huh," he stared at his screen, admiring his girlfriend's persistence.

"So I can get a job?" she inquired.

"If that's what you want," he sighed.

Lucy clapped her hands in excitement.

"Thank you," she smiled.

Then came the second step which was to tell Miss. Spetto.

"Miss. Spetto, I need to tell you something," Lucy sat down in her usual seat in the kitchen.

"What is it?" she questioned, sitting down in the other chair on the opposite side of the table.

"I want to get a job," Lucy revealed.

"A job?" Miss. Spetto echoed. "Why? Do you want to buy extra clothes? I can give you the money, let me go get my—"

"No, that's not why," Lucy interrupted.

"Why do you want a job then?" she inquired.

"To get experience," the blonde answered. It wasn't a lie, but she felt a small amount of guilt.

"Won't the job get in the way of school?" Miss. Spetto remarked.

"It won't," Lucy guaranteed.

"I'll let you get a job," Miss. Spetto gave permission, "but if I see your grades drop, you have to quit."

"I understand," Lucy nodded. "Thank you."

"Do you have any jobs in mind?" Miss. Spetto asked.

Lucy's jaw fell at the question. Her mind was only filled with thoughts of getting a job but she had no idea on what kind of job.

After getting approval from the two people she considered most important, she was at the final step. Find the job.

She searched for job openings for weeks. None of them appealed to her until one day her eyes landed on an opening. She knew immediately that this was the job for her.

"I found it!" Lucy exclaimed to Natsu as they got on their video chat.

"The job?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded energetically.

"What's the place called?"

Lucy read over the name of the place several times. The name sounded quiet familiar, but some mental wall stopped her from remembering.

She shook away her thoughts and sighed gleefully. The final step was now complete.

"It's called the Love and Lucky Coffee Shop."

* * *

Lucy applied for the job as soon as the bell dismissed her after school the next day. She had mentally prepared a lengthy speech to convince the owner to let her work there.

She didn't get to utter a single word of her speech as she arrived at the empty coffee shop.

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia and—"

"When can you start working?" the woman at the front counter interrupted.

"T-Tomorrow?" Lucy stammered, surprised that she was getting the job so quickly.

"Alright. After you pick your work schedule tomorrow, I'll give you your uniform," she informed.

"Okay," Lucy grinned. "Thank you!"

"Welcome to the family," the woman returned the smile.

Lucy swiftly texted Natsu saying that she received the job while returning home. When she wasn't texting Natsu on the walk back home, she was nearly skipping in joy.

This coffee shop was definitely lucky.

"I finally got a job!" she typed excitedly to her best friends as she logged on.

"Congrats!" Levy replied.

"I hope you don't forget about us," Gray joked.

"Don't get fired," Gajeel said.

"Where will you be working?" Erza questioned.

"A coffee shop," Lucy beamed.

"When do you start working?" Levy inquired.

"Tomorrow," Lucy answered.

"That's quick," Gray commented.

"Why did you get a job, anyway?" Gajeel asked.

"She wants to save up to meet Natsu," Gray responded, although he had no idea.

"He's right," Lucy replied.

"Wow," Gajeel spoke plainly.

Levy and Erza had known about it since Lucy had first started searching for jobs. They supported her right from the start.

As the rest of the evening went on, everyone had come to realize that Lucy would most likely be too busy to come online once she started working. Nobody said anything, since she was too ecstatic of finally getting a job.

"I'll be right back," Lucy said, hearing Miss. Spetto return from work.

She exited her room and joyfully met up with her guardian in the kitchen.

"I got a job," Lucy informed with a grin.

"Congratulations!" Miss. Spetto gave Lucy a tight hug. "Where are you going to start working?"

"The Love and Lucky Coffee Shop," she replied.

Lucy watched curiously as Miss. Spetto put a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, Lucy," Miss. Spetto closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"What?" she tilted her head.

"That coffee shop is where your parents met," she whispered.

"Oh," Lucy whispered back. No wonder the name had sounded so familiar.

"The things that happen in this world," Miss. Spetto continued to shake her head in disbelief.

"It's okay," Lucy smiled. "I want to work there."

"Remember not to let your grades drop," Miss. Spetto lifted a stern finger.

"It won't happen," she assured confidently.

With that, she returned to her room and resumed talking to her best friends.

"Good luck on your first day tomorrow! Goodnight," Levy said, logging off for the night.

"Don't get fired," Gajeel repeated, following Levy.

"See you later, Lucy," Gray spoke, his circle turning red.

"Be safe," Erza sent, now offline like the rest.

"I'll talk to you in a few minutes," Lucy told Natsu.

She shut off her laptop, already hearing the catchy tune of her ringtone. She ran to her nightstand to answer the phone.

"That wasn't a few minutes," she pointed out.

"I want to hear your voice as much as I can tonight," Natsu stated.

"You're acting as if I'm leaving forever," she giggled.

"You might," he remarked. "You'll be so busy working, you'll forget to call me."

"That's not happening," she shook her head. Then an idea popped into her head.

"I'll call you as soon as my shift ends," she spoke.

"You have to do it every day," he ordered.

"I will," she smiled.

"You know you don't have to do this," he reminded softly.

"I'm doing it," she responded, a faint sigh escaping her lips as she laid down in bed.

"You'll learn how to make peppermint coffee from scratch," he realized.

"Are you jealous?" she smirked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he replied sarcastically.

"I'll make some for you," she paused, debating if she should finish the sentence.

"When we meet," he finished for her.

"Yeah," she spoke into her pillow, her cheeks warmer than her heater.

The two talked for the next hour about everything and anything. Over the weeks that they talked over the phone, Lucy's yawn had become their signal.

"Don't forget to call me," he repeated for the third time.

"Never," she responded.

"Sweet dreams," he said.

"You, too," she whispered.

The two hung up and seconds later, she received a text.

"I love you," Natsu texted.

Natsu always texted her those three words every couple of days, like a small reminder. It was a reminder Lucy would never get tired of.

"I love you, too," she replied.

Neither of them complained that they said it over texting and not over the phone. They would never admit it, but saying it out loud was far more embarrassing than typing it.

The blonde's eyes fluttered shut minutes later, already dreaming of what her first day of working will be like.

She could feel that she had a huge day ahead of her. And an even bigger day arriving in several more months.


	18. Chapter 18

**October is supposed to be a cold month, and I am really disappointed that it's currently 75 degrees Fahrenheit right now. Sorry, people who use ****Celsius, the US is silly and doesn't use it like the rest of the world does. **

**We're slowly getting closer to the moment you've all been waiting for! **

**Lucky you guys, I'm extending this fanfic to 25 chapters. I'm a mess with which chapter is going to be which, so just bare with me, please. :')**

**I say this in every chapter, but I'm just in love with everyone that reads my stories. You are all lovely and please never stop being lovely~**

**Hope you all enjoy chapter 18! See you next Tuesday!**

* * *

Giving herself just one more peek in her work uniform, Lucy heard the door on the other side of the room creak open.

"Lucy, your shift is about to begin," a staff member poked their head in the girls' changing room.

"O-Okay!" she stepped eagerly to the door.

She followed the staff member—she hadn't seen her name tag yet—and waited for her first task.

"Since it's your first day, we're going to give you an easy day," she explained, which calmed Lucy's nerves immensely.

"I'll introduce you to the staff," she beckoned Lucy to continue to follow her behind the counter.

"What's your name?" Lucy questioned.

"I'm the manager, Virgo," she replied with a polite smile. It was strange; Lucy had never met someone so well-mannered before who looked around her age.

"This is Lyra," Virgo introduced Lucy to a female with strawberry blonde hair that waved down to her lower back.

"Hi, new worker!" Lyra proclaimed, her voice sounding like a song.

"I'm Lucy," she introduced herself with a wave.

"Nice to meet you," Lyra responded happily. "Let's work hard together!"

"This is Aries," Virgo presented a girl with skin as pale as the coffee cream.

Lucy could tell how timid she was, so she decided to speak first.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, quickly stepping away. Virgo watched her run away as if it was something that happened regularly.

"And this is Loke," Virgo finished.

"Oh, hello, new worker," the ginger haired man named Loke nearly purred.

"Hi," Lucy's eyes widened at the sudden tone.

"What's your name?" he leaned in so close, Lucy was able to see her reflection on his glasses.

"Lucy," Virgo stepped between the two, her aqua eyes boring into his hazel ones.

"It's an honor to be able to work with such beautiful woman," Loke stated.

"And those are the people you'll be working with for however long you work here," Virgo ignored Loke while he passionately preached about the power of beauty.

Lucy gradually soaked everything in like a sponge. Now came the actual job part.

"You won't be making coffee all the time," Virgo explained. "For the most part, you'll be serving tables."

"I understand," Lucy nodded.

"That being said, you'll need to know the basics of making coffee," she included.

Virgo began to teach Lucy how to grind the coffee beans; the sweet smell lingering in her nose. Virgo finished her lesson on the correct way to style the whip cream on top of the coffee.

Somehow, making the coffee came naturally to Lucy, even though she had only made instant coffee before.

"Have you done this before?" Virgo asked.

"No," Lucy laughed nervously.

"It looks like you've made coffee for years," Virgo complimented.

"I wonder what else you're good at," Loke whispered behind Lucy, causing her to spill some coffee on the counter.

"Clean it up," Virgo ordered with dark eyes.

"On it!" Loke yelped, rushing to get napkins.

"Please don't pay attention to him," Virgo's eyes morphed back to her regular ones.

"Gladly," Lucy mumbled.

"Do you have any questions before you officially start working tomorrow?" Virgo inquired.

Lucy hesitated, contemplating if she should ask. In the end, she couldn't resist.

"Can you teach me how to make peppermint coffee?"

* * *

"Good work today, Lucy!" Lyra sang while they changed back to their normal clothes in the changing room.

"I didn't do much," Lucy countered.

"That doesn't matter," she hummed.

"Well, good work to you, too," Lucy replied.

"What school do you go to?" Lyra asked.

"Acalypha High," Lucy answered.

"We go to the same school!" Lyra exclaimed.

"I've never seen you before," Lucy admitted.

"That's why you looked so familiar," Lyra snapped her fingers in recognition.

The two exited the changing room, finding out that they were in the same grade. It shocked Lucy that Lyra had seen her walking through the hallways before. She felt ashamed she had never noticed Lyra before.

"I always see you on your phone in the hallway," she recalled.

"I'm on it a lot," Lucy conveyed with embarrassment.

"Who are you talking to?" Lyra grinned. "Your boyfriend?"

"Y-Yes," Lucy answered, trying not to seem too boastful.

"Who is it?" Lyra raised her voice with excitement. Lucy almost felt that Lyra could shatter glass with her voice.

"He doesn't—"

"Lucy, let's go home together," Loke butted into the girls' conversation.

"Oh, I'm running late," Lyra swiftly checked the time. "See you tomorrow, Lucy!"

"Shall we?" Loke opened out his arm so Lucy could link her arm with his.

"I have to hurry home, too," Lucy said shortly, exiting the coffee shop. It was already nighttime; however, the sun had left the sky less than an hour ago.

"See me tomorrow!" Loke called out, not bothering to keep up with her swift steps.

"Of course he'd say that," Lucy scoffed, already aware of how much of a narcissist he was.

When she was completely sure she wasn't being followed by him, she pulled out her phone out of her bag. She tapped Natsu's name and pressed the phone against her ear. As soon as the call connected, the two spoke immediately, their voices overlapping.

"Hey, Natsu."

"Hey, Lucy."

Lucy hadn't realized how much she missed his voice after not hearing it all day.

"How was work?" he asked.

"I like it there. The people are nice," Lucy responded, watching her shoes as she walked back home. She chose to leave flirtatious Loke out of the picture.

"I'm glad," he replied with a hint of relief.

"Were you worried about me?" she grinned.

"Yes," he answered. "I've wanted to hear your voice all day."

"Let's video chat when I get home," she said.

"Don't you need to shower?" he inquired.

"I didn't sweat," she frowned. "And I take showers in the morning."

"You take showers in the _morning_?" he repeated, horrified.

"So what?" Lucy stifled a laugh at how surprise Natsu sounded.

"You're weird," he spoke.

"I'm not the one who takes a shower at night," she retorted.

They went back and forth, voicing their opinions on why morning or night showers were best. By the time the argument was over, Lucy was sure she had woken up her neighborhood by laughing too loud.

"You're going to get me in trouble," she giggled.

Telling Natsu she'll log on after saying hello to Miss. Spetto, she trotted to find her guardian at the kitchen table skimming through a book.

"How was your first day?" she surged from her seat.

"It was good," Lucy replied. In the short second that it was silent, her stomach growled.

"I knew you'd come back hungry," Miss. Spetto beamed. She opened the microwave to reveal a slice of pepperoni pizza.

"Thank you so much," Lucy's mouth watered as Miss. Spetto handed her the warm plate.

"Go do your homework now," Miss. Spetto waved her away.

Lucy couldn't help but bite into the pizza while going to her room.

She turned on her laptop, placing her pizza on her desk and searching through her school papers to see if there was any homework worth doing. She was incredibly pleased to find out that the papers would only take minutes to do. She could do it during class.

"Why are you eating your pizza like that?" was the first thing Natsu asked when they logged on.

"Like what?" she stopped eating. Was she being too messy?

"You're supposed to fold it," he ordered.

"No way," she shook her head.

"This is torture," he grumbled while Lucy continued to eat her pizza without one crease.

"How was your day?" Lucy asked with a grin, entertained by how uncomfortable he had become.

"Boring," he responded with a shrug. He went on to another subject, "You have to wear uniforms at your job, right?"

"Of course," Lucy nodded.

"I want to see it," he stated.

"W-What?" she nearly dropped her pizza crust on the floor.

"I want to see how your uniform looks," he said.

"It's just a plain uniform," she objected.

"I still want to see it," he pouted.

"I'll take a picture tomorrow," she sighed in defeat. She rolled her eyes as Natsu began to cheer in victory.

After that, time began to tumble on like a rock rolling down a mountain. The months passed on in what seemed like days. Lucy didn't mind; each day that went by meant one day closer to meeting Natsu.

The talks on the phone had become shorter due to Lucy returning home exhausted from work every night. Natsu didn't have a choice but to let her rest.

She understood how miserable Natsu was when she wasn't around. No doubt she was as well, but the idea of meeting each other some time soon was what encouraged the two to endure it all.

Lucy always anticipated the day she would get paid. The money was almost like a reminder saying, "Keep on working to get more of me."

However, the blonde wasn't the only one working.

Natsu was working just as hard as her—selling as many of his paintings as he could. He would never tell her this, because all of the money was going to be used to make her trip to Magnolia a trip she would never forget.

"It's finally summer!" Levy proclaimed. Lucy had logged on several minutes ago since she had a day off.

"Summer doesn't start till next week," Gray and Gajeel claimed together.

"Not for Lucy and I," Levy bragged.

"My summer started two days ago," Erza revealed, crushing Levy's self-esteem.

"Are you and Jellal doing anything this summer?" Lucy typed curiously.

"We're going to the beach next week," she replied.

"I want to live by the beach," Levy whined.

"I do, too," Lucy agreed.

"How is your work going, Lucy?" Erza asked.

"You only come on a few times a week, it's depressing," Gray remarked.

"Sorry, Gray," Lucy replied with guilt. "But my job is going great!"

"Have you gotten hit on by customers yet?" Gajeel inquired.

"Not yet," she responded. Technically, she hadn't since Loke was a worker. Lucy was fully aware Loke flirted with her for the fun of it, and he was fully aware that she had no interest in him. That didn't stop Loke to try out his pickup lines on her, though.

"Hey," Natsu logged on an hour later.

"How does it make you feel that you have school for two more weeks while I only have one?" Gray bragged.

"Shut up," Natsu retorted.

"And Lucy, Erza, and I are finished," Levy included.

Lucy couldn't hold back her laugh as Natsu didn't reply back. Instead, he went on the individual chat with Lucy.

"So you're finally in summer vacation," Natsu stated.

"That's right," Lucy claimed, unable to not brag.

"Do you know what that means?" he questioned.

"What?" she typed.

"Our birthdays are coming up," he responded.

"Not until one more month!" she replied with disbelief.

"We can never start counting too early," he remarked.

"Are you going to get me anything?" she joked.

"I'm already working on it," he answered.

Her mouth opened slightly in surprise. What could _it_ be?

"I'm working on yours, too," she bluffed.

"I'm sure you are," she could hear Natsu's chuckles.

Lucy leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her. She knew everything about Natsu but what was there for her to get him? There was no way she could get him something physical. Or could she? She frantically typed for information to see if her idea could be fulfilled.

"Perfect," she whispered to herself with a grin.

Never in her life had she been so grateful for the mailing system. Her happiness only lasted a few minutes as she froze once she realized what she had to ask Natsu. Her fingers slowly spread out on top of her keyboard, typing each letter hesitantly. She slammed the enter button before she backed out.

"What's your address?"

* * *

**I decided I'm going to add an A/N here today. :]**

**My best friend, which I know in real life, is currently writing a Shingeki No Kyojin/Attack On Titan fanfic that I am absolutely in love with. If you have the time, please check out her story _A Series Of Regrets_! Levi is an aspiring artist and Eren is an aspiring singer in the story. **

**Her pen name is: arumiins!**

**However, it's an Eren x Levi fanfic. Even though it's Ereri, it's adorable. It'd mean a lot to me (and certainly her) if you checked it out. **

**If you're reading this, ****arumiins, go do your homework. ;p **  


******Thank you guys for reading!**


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